The Sparkling Angel
by Egyptian Eye of Hope
Summary: Ancient Bakura is at it again, but this time he isn't alone. He has plans for whats to come next... will he finally succeed in his mission to murder the Pharaoh? Kinda parallel to On the Wings Of A Butterfly. Suggestive themes to come. BakuraOC
1. Day 1: Setting things in motion

**I'm back, again. This time with a longer fic (should be more than just a few I mean).**

**First fic thats Bakura-centric. at least for a while. it may become somewhat Atem-centric. but as of now, deff bakura. **

**ANYWHO. Just in case you didn't know, I don't own yu-gi-oh! or any of its characters. **

**I do however own the OC in this fic. Ati. she is all my creation.  
**

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Ati yawned, and rolled over onto the bare chest that she lay next to, snuggling in closer to the warm skin. The man opened his eyes and looked down at her, her long black hair already covered her face and now half his chest as well. "Do you plan on sleeping all day?"

"Please 'kura? Just let me sleep in a little longer," she mumbled, and he could feel her break against his skin.

"But today's the big day, the day we get what we need for our biggest plan."

"It can wait," she hissed, "I need sleep because someone decided to stay up until almost dawn for a roll in the sheets."

"Are you saying you didn't enjoy it?" he grinned, a hand on her head, being consumed by her dark hair.

She looked up, shooting daggers in his eyes, "you know I did."

"Then why are you complaining about the lack of sleep?"

"Because, you can't possibly expect me to be at my best if I'm not well rested."

He moaned, "Fine, sleep. I have to go get everyone awake and ready for today though. I expect you up when I come back."

"Thanks 'kura," she smiled and let him crawl out from her grasp, her hair now falling onto their makeshift bed.

He got up and walked out, into the other houses of this abandoned and broken down village he calls home. "Wake up everyone, we must prepare for today." The thief couldn't help but smile, today was day one of their big plan.

"Where's Ati?" one of his lieutenant's asked.

"Attempting to sleep in, I'm about to go get her. Have our horses ready," the thief stated as he walked back toward his house, the one in the center, and probably the most ominious looking.

"Yes Bakura."

-…-…-…-…-

"Ati? Did you find our way out of bed?"

"Nope, still lost," she laughed, as she was tying up her hair, black strands disappearing into a small bun on the back of her head.

"Glad to see you listened," he mumbled, "for once."

"Excuse you? Mister, thief king, sir? I do believe you just insulted me," she snuck up behind him, and yanked his long silver hair.

"Yes, and? That comes as a surprise to you?"

"No," she grinned, "It's just that, I could always, y'kno… not help out? I could just leave… so I would suck up a little if you want me to stay."

He twitched, "What're you saying? That you would turn on me and go kiss that pasty pharaoh's ass?"

"I'm just saying. If I'm playing such a big part in this, you should have a little respect."

"I'll respect you when we win," he hissed.

"Oh, we'll win alright. I'll make sure of it. I mean come on; do you think they could ever suspect me?"

He shrugged, "You get this weird look in your eye sometimes. It makes me think you're not all there… and if they see that they'll definitely do some poking around."

"Hey, don't make fun of me! It's not my fault I have a twitch!" She shoved him as they came out of the house and got to their horses.

"Master Bakura. Are you ready?" another lieutenant asked.

Both Bakura and Ati jumped on their horses, "let's go."

They rode all day to the village outside the palace, where all the custom jewelry and clothes are made for the king and his servants. They arrived as the sun was going down, and Ati went into the village to scope out the place. She was never the one to do the dirty work, more the innocent face to keep people from suspecting a thing.

It didn't take long for her to find a shop where they crafted the multi colored costumes for the dancers in the palace. It only took a quick glance at all the drying clothes to find just the perfect one that would fit her. With that in mind she took off to find the jewelry store so she could have believable clothing. It was only a couple stores down, but she could hear the sound of the gold forging into wrist cuffs and collars to be worn by the palace servants only.

She marked how many steps back to the horses it was and was grinning when she returned.

"I take it as you found what we're looking for?"

She nodded. "three hundred and forty-five steps away is the gold shop, another fifteen is the clothing shop. And I already know which of their outfits they made today will fit."

"Good, we'll relax here for a little. The others are looking for things they need. Once the town quiets down we'll strike."

She grinned, and took a seat next to him. They'd made sure to find somewhere that was excluded and far enough away from the village that they could watch without being watched. She leaned on his shoulder, "Are you sure you want me to do this? What will you ever do without me by your side?"

He sighed, "I lived without you, I can do it again. Only this time there will be less sex."

She laughed, until she noticed the evil smirk in his eye, "uhm… .'kura?"

"Since you'll be leaving soon, that just means we have to squeeze in every last second we can, doesn't it?"

She gulped, with Bakura, squeezing in a lot of sex into a short period of time, was not going to bode well, considering his everlasting stamina in bed. This would probably mean very little sleep, and a very sore body.

"I know what you're thinking, and don't worry, it'll all make it look better when we let you be found by them," he smiled.

"So you're basically going to make it look like you kidnapped and raped me and I somehow managed to be free of the 'all-mighty Bakura's grasp?"

"Basically…"

She bit her lip, "if you say so… "

"I do."

They continued to plot until everyone else had returned, and they waited, until all the shops were closed, owners back in their homes and eating dinner. Bakura hopped on his horse, and took off towards the village, everyone following suite behind him.

"I'll get the jewelry, you get your clothes," he nodded to Ati.

"Okay," she followed behind him until she stopped at the shop. Everyone else going for what they needed to steal. She started looking around the shop, trying to find that pair of clothes she'd seen earlier. It was green. How could she miss green? She was running out of time, and still couldn't find it.

"Hurry it up, you're running out of time," Bakura was on his horse, keeping an eye out.

She closed her eyes, and focused.

"You're wasting time!"

She opened her eyes and opened a drawer, finding the green clothes laid there perfectly. She made off with them, not stopping to look back at her first act as a thief. They rode on for hours, heading back to their village. It had been a full day on the horses though, and not only was everyone tired, the horses wanted a nap too.

"'kura, shouldn't we just stop for the night?" Ati was hugging her horse and holding onto bakura's reins to keep from falling behind.

"In the middle of the desert? We wouldn't make it to morning, the wind would surely cover us overnight. We must keep on," he seemed most awake of anyone.

They rode on, quietly, and sleepily, until they reached home. They met sunrise by the time they got back. They could have made it back before morning if the horses had been better rested, but everyone settled in for a good days sleep.

"'kura," Ati yawned as she let down her hair.

He grunted, her signal to continue.

"How much time do we have before I'm stuck in that palace, with _him_?"

"Only a couple days," he crawled into their bed and watched as she crawled in next to him and curled up against him.

"I don't like leaving you to be with the man I hate the most," she hissed, her breath passing over his nipple and sending chills down his spine.

"I know. I'll try to make your last couple days, your most enjoyable. But for now, I'm sleepy, and I know you are too," he adjusted until he was comfy, pulling her halfway on top of his chest and holding her tightly.

"g'night 'kura."

"night."

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**Sooo... are you confused yet? **

**Want to know what happens next? REVIEW! and ask for more chappies. :))  
**


	2. Day 2: Getting Roughed Up

**I'm back. with chapter two. Ok, so maybe you won't get mad that I didn't explain a couple things.. like, who is this chick? why does she even LIKE, let alone LOVE, Bakura? what sort of evil plan are they doing?**

**But the answers are coming, you just have to wait for them. :) They're needed later (maybe... I think so) and I don't want to write them twice. **

**Enjoy~  
**

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Ati rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head to keep her from having to hear her thief's snoring. 'I guess I'm lucky that he only snores like this when he's exhausted… but still! I'm surprised he hasn't woken everyone up by now,' she thought to herself.

Bakura rolled over, his arm wrapping over her, and his mouth now only inches from her ear which left only the pillow to separate them. It sounded like his snoring had increased tenfold.

"Holy Ra," she hissed and decided to find a way to crawl out from under him so she could get away from the sound. It took her a couple minutes to delicately move his arm, and gently roll him over so he wouldn't wake up.

Once she freed herself from their bed she grabbed her ribbon she and placed it between her teeth as she walked outside; her hands busy moving her hair so she could tie it up. It was peaceful for the middle of the afternoon. Everyone else was probably still asleep since no one was out. Usually there would be at least one or two people walking out to go forage food, or get some water from the nile. But the village was dead, as it had been for so long before Bakura found followers who also wanted to bring down that stupid pharaoh.

Since there wasn't anything she had to do today aside from spend time with her thief, she figured she'd relax a little and grabbed a horse and headed for the oasis nearby. "At least I'll have a chance to clean up a little," she laughed, knowing if this plan was going to work she would have to seem like she was one of them. She would need to be cleaned, and then roughened up, only by the hands of Bakura and his two lieutenants. Just to make it more believable there would need to only be a fresh layer of dirt.

Checking around she made sure she wasn't being watched before she slipped out of her clothes and hung them over the tree. She walked into the water until she was shoulder deep and allowed herself to lay there for a minute.

"Ahh, this feels so good," she smiled. It had been a long time since she'd had the chance to relax in some nice water. She took her time scrubbing off the built up dirt and sand that had made its way into her pores from the night before. "Wow, if my skin is this bad, I can only imagine my hair." She reached into her hair and could feel how dry it was, so she undid her ribbon and let her hair fall into the water.

After she was sure she'd gotten every grain of sand out of her scalp she scanned for intruders one last time before getting out of the water. She dried up quickly, with help from the sun and her own towel before she threw her clothes back on and made her way back to the village.

-…-…-…-

"Ati~" Bakura whined when he opened his eyes, finding her gone. "Ati?"

He growled, he'd told her before he didn't like it when she played games with him. He especially didn't like it when she got up before him. If the pharaoh was to ever make a person a bargaining chip against him it would definitely be her. The only other time she'd woken up before him, he flipped shit trying to find her. Only to realize she'd been helping one of the lieutenants repair his water sack. He had scolded her so badly, she promised she'd never leave him if she woke up early again, and what did she do? She left.

He made his way out of the house quickly, making sure she wasn't hiding anywhere. When he looked out into the village to see that she wasn't there, but most of his other thieves were he got worried.

"Master Bakura, what is it?" his first lieutenant asked.

"Where is she?"

"Ati?"

"No, my mother. Of course her!"

"I don't know, sir. We haven't seen her."

"Fuck," Bakura went back inside their house and started looking for a sign. Something to tell him she hadn't been kidnapped but had actually left of her own accord.

He saw her ribbon was missing.

"That bitch. She knows better than to do this. Rule number one is that if you're a woman you don't go by yourself. Especially not one as weak and pathetic looking as you are~"

"Who's weak and pathetic?"

He turned around and met eyes with her. "Ati…." His voice was warning enough that she was in trouble.

"I'm sorry, you were asleep… snoring, loudly… and I needed to get cleaned up so we could get ready for the next couple days," she bit her lip.

Bakura growled and she dropped her head. "You know better than to do this Ati."

"I'm sorry! I thought you would still be asleep when I got back. I guess I lost track of time."

"Damn right you did. You could have been taken by that ingrate pharaoh, you know that if he had you I would be severely limited."

"Oh c'mon 'kura, even I don't expect you to love me that much," she rolled her eyes, "look, we both know that when it comes to fighting the pharaoh, people will die. I will probably be one of those people. Like you said I'm "weak and pathetic", but that doesn't mean I'm not conniving as hell. I was prepared to die when I agreed to this plan, and I can't do this if I my leader is getting cold feet."

He hissed at her, "I know. You know when I get in a rage I stop thinking. If he kills you, there will definitely be a lapse in my judgment."

"Then use that lapse to your benefit. Don't get sloppy because you lose someone. If any of the other thieves were to be lost, you would be completely okay. So what makes me any different 'kura?"

"Maybe because I don't have sex with them?"

She laughed, "So because I've offered myself to be your entertainment, you've grown attached to me?"

"Don't act like that's all you are. You know that's not true," he was surprised to see her talk so lowly of herself. Usually she was bursting with pride.

"Okay, so it's more than that, but that's not how it started."

"You were the one who wanted to get close to me. I didn't want to grow attached, now look what you've done!"

"Exactly! I've made the all-mighty thief king Bakura a wimp. So when I'm gone, doing my part of this, you'd better be prepared to come through on your part. You know that once I'm in I won't be able to leave so easily."

"Fine," he hissed, just ready to stop talking about this.

She smiled, "See 'kura, you're still the strong king in there somewhere… just not so sure where."

"Oh would you shut up and lay down already?" he pushed her onto the bed.

"Ready to start so soon?" she smiled as their lips met.

"Gotta get my little dancer girl dirtied up," he laughed.

"Well uhm… 'kura?" she held his face away from hers so she could speak. She could feel the rough skin from his scar under her fingers, leaving the rest of his skin soft as silk.

"What is it now?"

"Shouldn't I be IN the dancer clothes we took?"

"Point.." he got off of her, mumbling some profanity.

She grabbed the clothes and turned around.

"No, I want full frontal. You're supposed to be my kidnapped dancer, remember? So you get to be treated like one."

She sighed, "If I must. But technically," she pulled her clothes off, "I would have been in these clothes when you kidnapped me… so you wouldn't be watching me put them on."

"Fine then, as your lover just let me see it," he huffed, growing impatient. He watched intently as she changed into the clothing and couldn't help but think that the green was the perfect color to contrast her skin. The top cut off right under her boobs and was cut low in a v-neck shape, the skirt fit low on her hips and both were trimmed with gold

"Why are you staring at my boobs?" she blinked, putting the crafted gold jewelry on, finding it much heavier than she was expecting.

"Because they've never looked so good," he was grinning, "wait I take it back, the only other time is when you're naked."

She laughed and crawled back into their bed, "now then… where were we?"

He grinned and pinned her down to the bed, "this oughta be fun."

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**There you go. Chapter two. :)**

**Pleaseeeee review. You know I love it when you do (you don't have to have an account to do so). and if you have any questions, please ask!  
**


	3. Day 3: Meet Your Sisters

**I'm back with the 3rd chapter. It's as much as I have written up until this point. I'll probably write some more tomorrow though. :)**

**Njoy :3  
**

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None of the other thieves saw Bakura or Ati until the night they were supposed to leave Ati to be "rescued".

"Okay, so I'm going to assume Master Bakura is getting her ready for tonight," the second lieutenant laughed.

"Probably," the first agreed. "So I'll take her on my horse, and we'll leave her there for "dead", and she'll just so happen to limp, crawl, or whatever she'll be able to do over to the camp for the dancers."

"Right," the second grinned, thinking this was going too perfectly, "and they'll be there because they're on their way back from a trip to a neighboring palace. So while they're camped out at the only nearby village, Ati will have the perfect chance of just crawling in like an injured animal."

"Exactly, and since they're a bunch of women, they won't be able to help but feel sorry for the poor girl, being "bound, gagged, beaten and raped" by a bunch of "lowly thieves". This will be absolutely wonderful, especially considering that she plays the innocent part so well."

While they readied the horses they were trying to decide who should go tell the couple that it was time to be heading out.

"I don't wanna interrupt… Master Bakura would kill us."

Neither of them wanted to have this misfortune of interrupting, but were glad to see when Ati came stumbling out of their house. Hands tied behind her back, her long black hair knotted and messed up, her skin covered with bruises. Even the brand new clothes they'd stolen had wear, multiple dark spots from which the two could only imagine had been caused by Bakura literally beating her up. Her back was hunched over, and distress colored her green eyes. She wore no shoes, and the sand was easily getting between her toes and creating a feeling she didn't enjoy.

Bakura was right behind her, holding a rope in his hands that went straight to the rope that bound her hands together, creating a sort of leash.

"Gentlemen. How does she look?" Bakura couldn't help but grin, seeing their jaws drop at his handiwork.

"Did you really beat her up? Those bruises look real…" his first lieutenant was stunned.

"That's because they are," he smiled.

Niether lieutenant knew what to say.

"Are you ready to ride or are we going to stand around here all day while I keep getting sand between my toes?" Ati was growing impatient. Not to mention, Bakura knew she wasn't good at faking it, so the reason she was limping was because he'd dead legged her and she twisted her ankle.

"Wow, you're still you under there?" the second laughed, and instantly regretted it by the daggers her eyes were shooting him.

"It hurts to stand, so either get me on that horse, and let's get this started, or I'm going to sit on the ground until you're ready."

"Alright alright, just say your goodbyes."

While the first lieutenant got on his horse she turned to Bakura, "We'll meet soon."

"Yes," he smirked. "And I'm kind of sorry about making you unable to walk."

"Thanks, I'm kinda glad you're kinda sorry."

The second lieutenant hoisted her up onto the horse with the first so she was in front of him.

"Hey, I love you, you stupid thief."

"I love you too, you reckless woman."

"Are you ready?" the first asked as he grabbed the reins.

"Yea, let's go," she smiled, looking onward to the setting sun.

They arrived at the village when the moon was high in the sky, illuminating the village with its brilliance.

"Here's fine," Ati told him to stop the horse.

"But we're barely outside the village, we can at least run through and push you off the horse, that'll be really convincing."

Ati thought for a minute, I guess you can do that. But you need to gag me or knock me out; otherwise they'll be asking why I wasn't screaming."

The first lieutenant apologized before hitting her on the head with the hilt of her dagger. She collapsed forward on the horse, but his arm caught her. Once he got close enough he sent all the thieves charging through the village, and pushed Ati off the horse once he passed where they figured the pharaoh's dancers would be staying.

_'Good luck Ati, we'll watch from outside_,' he thought as he circled around, getting far enough away where he watched people take her inside their home. He and the rest of the thieves returned home by morning.

-…-…-…-

Ati woke in the morning to the sun bearing down on her face, everything hurt. Her head was especially throbbing. "That son of a bitch," she muttered.

"Oh, you're awake," a girl ran up to her, "Mother, she's awake!"

'Mother' came up and pressed a hand against Ati's forehead, "How are you feeling my dear? Do you know what happened to you?"

Ati broke eye contact, "I don't wanna talk about it…"

"Those thieves dropped you in front of our house last night," the mother was clearly concerned. "They didn't do anything to you did they?"

She bit her lip before proceeding, "I'd rather not speak of it."

The mother nodded, "I treated your wounds, you had an awfully bad one on the back of your head, I guess that's how they got you? Knocked you out."

"Thank you," Ati wasn't used to such kindness; she didn't know how to react.

"It's no problem, do you need help getting back to the harem for the dancers?"

Ati nodded, "I feel like I have a concussion."

"I wouldn't doubt it. You were hit on the head and thrown from a horse, let me escort you," the mother smiled and helped the girl up. She walked with the limping girl to the harem.

'_This isn't going to work…. I'm supposed to be from a different, foreign harem… if this woman says I'm from theirs, then what am I supposed to do? Play like I don't know where I am? This is so much more complicated than its supposed to be,_' she was stressing.

They made it to the home where the harem was staying and the mother knocked on the door.

"Hello?" a woman opened the door slowly, looking shocked at the sight of Ati.

"Hello, uhm.." the mother thought for a second, "This girl was kidnapped by a bunch of thieves.. you wouldn't happen to be missing one of yours would you?"

The woman shook her head, "No, she must be from a neighboring palace. Ma'am, what palace do you serve?"

Ati had decided a long time ago that she would be from one of the palaces further south of their location, and once she told the woman she wished that she'd decided on a different one. The woman seemed shocked that she'd travelled so far.

"I guess that's what happens in the hands of thieves," the mother sighed, "there's probably no way to get her home like this."

The woman shook her head, "we can at least take her back to the palace and see what the pharaoh will say."

'_Score! Oh thank you random lady for being so helpful,_' Ati thought. "Thank you for your kindness," she put on her best smile.

"Anything for a fellow dancer, come in," the woman led the way. "You can call me Maani. I'm the leader of this harem, so you can feel free to meet the other girls or just get some rest."

"I would like a little rest for now," she smiled.

"Alright, well you won't get much I'm afraid, we're leaving shortly, we are on our way back to the palace."

"That's alright, I can rest on a horse or a camel."

"I don't know if you'll be able to ride, we may just attach your horse to another girls," Maani pondered it a while.

"My legs are fine, one of my ankles is injured though, but I think I can manage…"

"If you're sure. If you ever want to stop and follow someone just let us know."

"I will. Thank you."

Ati got a chance to meet the girls that she would be sharing living quarters with once they arrived at the palace, and knew which ones she would have to watch out for. Mainly it was the few girls that thought the pharaoh was the greatest man alive, and how they would give anything just to actually talk to him. She couldn't let herself be around those people, lest her views actually surface because that would be the only thing it would be hard to fake- a love for the pharaoh.

-…-…-…-

"MOTHER! FATHER!" a girl cried, seeing the pharaoh's guards carrying them away.

A guard held her back from running to them, "you should be lucky that you get to live. Your parents have been ordered for execution from the pharaoh. You should be thanking Ra that you were spared."

"I don't care! You can't take them from me! I need them!" she continued to cry. She was already an adult by Egyptian society, but she still relied on her parents.

The guard shoved her down to the ground and walked off, mumbling something about how the youth was ungrateful.

A young male came up to the girl and grabbed her arm.

She shrieked, "Let me go! Can't you see? They've taken my parents… just let me die."

"Come with me," he pulled on her arm, "you can take your revenge later. C'mon!"

She relentlessly followed him out of her village, where horses and men in black capes were waiting. "Who are you? Why are you doing this for me?"

"Let's just say, I know what you're going through. We can talk later, when it's safe," he helped her onto his horse, and climbed up behind her before grabbing the reins and pushing off.

"Master Bakura, are you sure it's safe to bring an outsider?" one of the hooded figures spoke.

The young male nodded, "She's fine. Let's just get home. This detour cost us enough of our time."

Once they were far enough out that there was no one in sight the girl turned to the boy and stared at him.

"What do you want," he hissed, "just relax until we get to your new home."

"Where are you taking me?"

"Home."

"Who are you?"

"My name's Bakura, what's yours?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"I asked your name."

"Tell me why you're doing this. Why wouldn't you just leave me back there? Even your friends in the capes don't want me here. So why?"

"Because you know the pain we've all felt. Now. Your name?"

"Ati…"

"Thank you. Now I have one last question for you, before we go any further."

"Ok."

"Do you want revenge?"

"Yes. But I could never… I'm just a village girl."

"That's what you'll have me for. We're going to get our revenge on that pharaoh, and you can help if you'd like. Otherwise, you can get off this horse now, and attempt to find your way back to your village, but you'd probably end up dying in this desert buried under the sand. So tell me, Ati, what's your decision?"

She bit her lip, "Fine, I'll help you."

"That's what I thought you'd say," he ruffled her hair, and messed up her bun.

He closed his eyes for a second, knowing somewhere in his heart that this girl would be helpful in the future.

"Hey 'kura?" the voice he'd grown so attached to called him.

Bakura opened his eyes, only to see the ceiling of their room, "Ati?" He rolled over, looking for her. 'That's right… she's gone. Odd that I would dream of the day we met right as she leaves me. Oh well, this just means we get to prepare for the day she makes her first contact with us.'

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**Alright. So now you know how Ati met Bakura... what do you think?**

**OH and don't forget to leave the authoress cookies. :D**

**P.S. Atem will be arriving shortly  
**


	4. Day 4: Your New Home

**Why hello there! I'm back today with another chapter. :) I'm sorry that its so short. and almost completely Ati-centric. I wanted to add Pharaoh in here more and Bakura but it would make the chappie wayyyy too long.**

**But Atem is finally arrived. and so is his staff :)  
**

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"We're finally home," Maani smiled, "it feels so good to be back."

The other girls chorused similar thoughts, Ati nearly gagged as she heard their happiness to see the pharaoh.

"Oh, I can't wait to dance for our beautiful Pharaoh, I love the look on his face when we're dancing…" one girl was grinning.

"Oh, I know. This will be the best celebration yet. But we have to bring the new girl… what's her name again? Ati? … to go see him, since she's not from here, he can either let her stay or send her out in the morning…" another seemed to be liking that idea.

"I hope he lets her stay. She's in no condition to be traveling."

"Well she should have been more careful than to let herself get kidnapped by thieves."

_'Let myself get kidnapped. Haha, that's rich,'_ Ati couldn't help but smile.

They rode inside and left their horses in the stable with a young girl named Mana. "I'm glad to see you all returned home safely," she was so unusually happy. "OH! What happened!" She ran over at first sight of the injured Ati, who was still covered in bruises. "Are you okay?"

Ati shrugged, "I will be now that I'm away from those thieves."

"You were kidnapped by thieves!" Mana was in shock.

Ati nodded.

"Here, let me get you to the infirmary. Master Mahad will definitely be able to help," the girl was tugging on Ati's arm instead of helping her off the horse.

"Uhm… miss?"

"Oh! You can call me Mana!"

"Well Mana, do you think you could help me down? I have a twisted ankle so it's a little hard…"

"Oh, right!" Mana smiled and helped her down off the horse. "Mother Maani, don't worry about Ati, I'll take her to Mahad!"

"No Mana, not yet. She has to see the Pharaoh," the woman stopped the young girl.

"Why? I'm sure he won't mind if she's treated for her injuries first," Mana didn't want to waste time.

"She's from a different palace, we'll need to know what the Pharaoh plans to do."

"Well he'll let her stay here of course! He's not that mean," she muttered the last part under her breath, "Besides, even if he wants her to return home to her own palace, he won't let her leave until she's healed."

"Don't speak so casually about our king," Maani was ready to raise her hand and put the girl in her place.

"I'm sorry Mother Maani, but I've known him since I was a child, since before he was a Pharaoh."

"Regardless, he is a Pharaoh now, I don't want to catch you giving him less respect than he deserves ever again. Understood?"

"Yes, Mother Maani," Mana seemed upset.

Ati on the other hand was happy to find someone to casually speak about the 'great king'. Although she spoke highly of him, she wasn't swooning with respect like some of the people she was going to have to live with, and she could respect that.

"Come Ati, let us go see the Pharaoh," Maani waved her hand for Ati to follow.

Mana slowly released the girl she was helping stay standing, "Are you okay to walk?"

"I guess," Ati shrugged, it didn't seem like this 'Mother Maani' was going to be very lenient now that they'd returned to the palace. She was much nicer when they were outside palace walls. Ati limped after the woman and followed behind her new sisters.

It was a long limp to the royal court where Ati would have to stand before the Pharaoh and receive his decision. Once they finally got there all the girls waited off to a side while Mother Maani and Ati walked up before the Pharaoh and his court.

"What is this?" the Pharaoh was blinking stupidly as the two approached.

"What happened to this girl?" one of his court exclaimed.

"Seto, calm down," another, one carrying a scale put his hand on Seto's shoulder.

"Look at what's happened to this woman Karim!"

The Pharaoh silenced the two and stood. He walked down slowly to the girls, despite the warnings of his court.

"Mother Maani, what has happened?" He looked at Ati, "I'm sorry, I don't believe I've seen you here before…"

"She's from one of the southern palaces," Maani stated.

"And she's made it all the way here? What happened?"

"Kidnapped by thieves, from the look of it probably that one with the silver hair."

"Bakura," he hissed.

It took a lot for Ati to keep a straight face. She didn't like people, especially not this evil man before her, speaking ill of the one she loved.

"I'm sorry that this has happened to you," he looked sincerely apologetic, but she didn't believe him.

"It is not your fault my Pharaoh," she apologized, turning her gaze to the floor.

"No, everything that happens in this country is my responsibility. That makes this my fault," he sighed. "Well, I guess we'll let you stay here, at least until you're healed. If you still wish to leave at that time you may."

She nodded, "Thank you, my Pharaoh."

A small 'told'ya' could be heard from the back of the room where the small girl named Mana was standing.

"Mana," the Pharaoh spoke, "please escort her to the infirmary." He turned to his council, "Mahad, you may go with her."

He nodded, "Thank you Pharaoh."

"Mother Maani, please set up a bed for her," the Pharaoh turned and returned to his throne.

"Yes Pharaoh," she bowed and left.

-…-…-…-

"So tell me, what exactly happened to you?" Mahad stared at the girl he was treating.

Ati glanced to the side, her long hair falling out of its bun and cascading down her body, "It's not something I'd really like to talk about."

Mahad stared at her hair, "at least they didn't cut your hair.."

"That was how they grabbed me," she muttered sarcastically, "like they would cut off something that was useful for dragging someone around." While Bakura had fiercely grabbed and yanked at her hair, he didn't dare attempt to rip out any of her hair by dragging her around by it.

Mahad nodded, uttering quiet, 'oh' before continuing his treatment. He cleared his throat, "did they, uhm, do anything other than beat you up?"

Ati nodded, pretending to be ashamed.

"If you'd like we could give you an exam to make sure they didn't damage you…"

She shook her head, "No. I feel fine. My ankle and my head are really the only things that hurt."

"Just because you feel fine doesn't mean you are," Mahad tried to reason with her, but it wasn't going to work. She only allowed one person to see down there and that one person was far away. "Alright, if you change your mind, let us know alright?"

"Yes Master Mahad. Thank you," she tried to smile. She was already wishing for her 'kura back but she knew she was already in and had to finish her part before she could talk to him again.

She winced when he snapped her ankle back into place, "Sorry but I didn't have much of a choice, does it feel better now?"

She nodded, it was feeling better now that the pain was receding.

"You won't want to walk on it for at least a few hours. You can rest here until then."

She nodded and laid down as he took his leave. She was alone now, with only her thoughts, _''kura you bastard, I think you overdid it. I'm gonna be stuck in this damn infirmary until I can walk properly. That's only gonna make us lose time. Well I guess it's okay that the Pharaoh doesn't suspect a thing. I was two feet from him. So close…'_

-…-...-…-

Bakura awoke, feeling like he'd received a slap in the face, "huh what?" He didn't usually wake up from his afternoon naps without interruption from Ati. "I wonder if she reached the palace yet…" He summoned his Diabound and sent him searching for her.

A couple hours later the monster returned to the village, and told Bakura that she had indeed made it inside the palace.

"Good, we'll await her first communication." Bakura dismissed his Diabound.

* * *

**Sorry there's so little Bakura and Atem. **

**Good or Bad, please review! :)  
**


	5. Day 5: Earn Their Trust

**I wanted to put a little more Pharaoh in it... so the beginning is all Pharaoh-centric and his council. **

**Haha~ the real plotting begins SOON. :)  
**

* * *

"Pharaoh, I can't believe you acted as you did today!" Seto was enraged.

"Calm yourself Seto. I'm allowed to speak to my servants. Especially if they have been abused by Bakura, they deserve my sympathy."

"Bakura is just another stupid little thief," Akunadin laughed, "Yes he has potential to be a lot worse, but right now he's spending more time cowering from you and pissing you off by attacking smaller villages."

"Did it ever occur to you that he could be planning something?" The Pharaoh's posture was only raising, making him seem taller –even though he was indeed quite short- and much more controlling.

"The millennium tauk would warn us if Bakura was plotting something big!"

"Actually," Isis interrupted, holding her hand to her tauk, "We already know that Bakura has some force that keeps me from being able to see what he's planning."

"So why exactly are we fighting? I'm confused," Mahad felt like everyone was just angry for no real reason.

"The Pharaoh shouldn't have been so bold as to walk out amongst his servants. He was an open target at that time," Seto stood his ground.

"And if Bakura was really such a big threat and could be planning something that would mean even more that we should keep you from people. That new girl isn't from here, she could easily be involved," Karim agreed.

"Oh yes, because an innocent, beat and raped girl is going to be on the side of the people who did this to her," the Pharaoh facepalmed.

A couple people nodded while the others remained silent.

"I don't think that this newcomer is anything to stress out over," Mahad sighed, "she's honestly frightened about what happened to her. I think that if she says here she'll slowly start opening up."

Seto laughed, "I'm sure the Pharaoh will just be happy to watch her perform."

Pharaoh rolled his eyes, "I want my citizens safe. That is what I care about."

"Alright, so let's just say the Pharaoh needs to stay at least far enough away from the citizens that if one is working for Bakura he won't be dangerously close, okay?" Akunadin was tapping his foot impatiently.

"Fine," the Pharaoh didn't seem patient either, "I'm hungry."

Everyone else chorused in agreement.

-…-…-…-

"This is your new home," the boy with the silver hair told her, why couldn't she remember his name?

"Thank you…"

"Bakura," he laughed at her poor memory.

"Hey, don't make fun of me," she hissed.

He blinked, such an innocent girl, bitter already? He hadn't expected the anger to set in so quickly, "Fine. I'll leave you here, we'll get you some more clothes later today, when we have time."

She nodded and walked inside, it was dark, and damp, and incredibly creepy. _'I guess this is home,'_ she thought as she laid down into her makeshift bed, _'at least I can get some sleep…'_

"What do you think you're doing?" Bakura walked in on the girl who was ready to take a nap.

"I was going to sleep… I was up all night."

"You've been asleep for hours, c'mon we're going to get your clothes," he left as fast as he'd arrived.

She didn't feel like she'd been asleep, she felt like she'd just laid down. She didn't feel any more rested or anything, "Fine."

Sure enough, when she followed him out, the sun was already starting to set, "we're going out at night again?"

"Stop complaining, you're lucky to be alive," one of the caped men from earlier stated, "I'm the first lieutenant, and let me tell you, I'm surprised he's letting you live."

She shrieked, what else would they have done with her?

Bakura walked up, a wrap covering his hair and his face, "You, Ati, on my horse. We haven't gotten one for you yet so your'e coming with me."

"Master Bakura, are you sure you don't want us to come?" the first lieutenant asked.

"No, this will be a small task, we just need to get her some clothes, we'll be back by morning," he hopped up on the horse in front of her.

She leaned back a little, not wanting to be grabby. "Hold on tight," He took her hands and wrapped them around his stomach. She was lucky that he couldn't see her blush. As they rode off into the desert she tightened her grip on him, feeling like she was going to fall off. "On the way back can I ride in front of you?"

"Why?" he was enjoying her clinging to him for dear life much more than he would be enjoying her sitting in front of him and letting her black hair get in his mouth.

"I feel like I'm going to fall off."

"You won't, I told you to hold tight," he laughed.

They arrived in the village with enough time to scope out a store that had clothes that would fit her.

"Bakura… this is wrong…" She whispered as they walked down the street, his face covered so no one would see him.

"Shh," he hissed, "don't call me by my name."

"Fine then… but this is still wrong." She was nervous. She'd never done anything like this before, and didn't think this was a good idea. She was still an honest girl. She had wanted to live when he'd asked her, but she didn't want to become a thief. Yet she knew he was the one who would actually have the power to bring down the man that took her parents.

"Tell me when you see something that will fit you."

"But I'd have to try it on," she blinked.

"No you don't," he laughed, "I know your parents were seamstresses. You could probably tell what clothes would fit a person without even having to hold the clothes up."

She blinked; he'd been paying attention when he saved her. She almost forgot she'd been right outside their shop.

"Fine," she looked around, and nodded her head, "those. On the corner of that table."

He glanced at them and watched the owner place them in a drawer, "right now we just have to wait until everyone leaves."

They returned later, once everyone had left and the sun was long since set, and Ati watched while Bakura broke into the drawer and grabbed the garments, "These yes?"

She nodded, "please can we hurry and leave? I don't like this."

"Stop being such a baby," He laughed and tucked the garments in his robes before taking her hand and running off.

They ran all the way back to the horses and Bakura tucked the clothes into one of the bags he had hanging from his saddle. He hopped on behind her this time, and rode them off into the night, not stopping until they returned to the village where the lieutenants were waiting.

"Good to see you made it back," they were clearly relieved.

Bakura huffed, "Go to bed. We have work to do in the morning."

Ati took her clothes out from the satchel on the horse and returned to her quarters.

"Ati, wake up," a nurse was shaking her shoulder.

"Huh?" she rolled over, her dark hair consuming more than half her body, "what's going on?"

"They've prepared a room for you in the dancer's quarters, Master Mahad said your ankle should be fine and you can get up now."

Ati nodded, "Thank you." She sat up gently and moved her ankle around, testing the waters before attempting to walk on it, let alone put weight on it. All seemed well.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse was just being nice.

"Not too bad, my foot doesn't hurt, and my head … feels a lot better too," she smiled.

"That's good, you can thank Master Mahad for that, he's pretty good."

"If I see him again, I will have to," she nodded.

"Would you like an escort to your quarters?"

She nodded, "I've never been here so I'm not quite sure where everything is."

"No problem, Mana!"

The chipper young girl made her entrance, "Yes?"

"Will you escort miss Ati to her room please?"

"Oh of course I will!" the girl ran to her side, happy to see she was now standing on her own two feet. "Are you feeling better?"

She nodded, "Much thanks to Master Mahad."

"He's a magician, that's how he's so good!" she smiled, "I'm his apprentice, but I'm not that good yet!"

Ati laughed and made small talk with the girl as she was escorted to her quarters.

"Alrighty, here you are," Mana opened the door to the quarters. It was larger than anything Ati had ever seen. The area room where all the girls were was at least twice the size of her and Bakura's house. And everyone had their own individual room.

"Mana," Mother Maani approached the door and glanced at Ati, "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

She nodded, "I've decided I'll stay with you. Going back would be dangerous and could land me right back where I started."

Maani nodded, "Well we're glad to have you, I'll show you your room and you can feel free to chat with the other girls."

"Bye Ati," Mana waved, "Bye Mother Maani!"

"Bye Mana," they chorused, one happier than the other.

Ati looked around her room, a small bed, a real bed, not a pile of hay covered with a blanket. A real feather stuffed bed. A small chest of drawers for her clothes, "Uhm.. I only have this one set of clothes…"

"Don't worry; they've already put in an order for the villagers to make more with your size exactly. And some day clothes as well."

"Thank you," she smiled, noticing her window. She had a window. This would be perfect for her to send message to Bakura.

"Now," Mother Maani, "the girls have been dying to ask you about your encounter with the Pharaoh."

"But you were too…"

"I know, but they think I'm too old to matter," she laughed, "they want to know from the eyes of a fellow dancer."

"Oh," Ati laughed, sighing internally. She hated the Pharaoh. HATED. It was going to be really hard to get excited over telling them what it felt like to talk to the Pharaoh himself.

* * *

**Haha, so tell me what you thoughhttt... you know you want to! *pokes***

**Haha anywho. Bakura's plan is underway and now that Ati has successfully infiltrated the palace, and is successfully winning their trust, we can get down to business.**

**Also, anyone with ideas on how to let them communicate, please share them with me. Because I'm at a stand still. Something either seems too obvious to get caught, or much too impossible.  
**


	6. Day 6: The Firsts

By the time Ati had finished telling her story to all the other girls she was exhausted and dying for some fresh air. She didn't usually spend this much time inside, she and Bakura were almost always out on their horses, resting only at home for sleep, planning, or sex.

"Is it alright if I look around the palace and familiarize myself?" Ati looked to Maani for an answer, to which she nodded. Ati smiled and took her leave.

She walked around the palace until she found her way outside to the courtyard. Happy that she could finally breathe she almost didn't notice Seto and Shadah coming back from the village with a lot of guards. The guards, she noticed, were dragging criminals in the palace to be put in the dungeons.

Inwardly she smiled, _'I guess I'm lucky they haven't caught on to me yet. Of course, 'kura always says I don't have the face of a thief, let alone a killer.'_

"You there," a voice called at her and she froze.

Slowly turning around she found herself face to face with Shadah, "Yes Master Shadah?"

"What are you doing out here? And why are you just staring?" he was clearly suspicious.

"I'm sorry Master Shadah, I was just having a look around and I started getting hard of breath so I came outside to get some air. I didn't notice I was staring," she bit her lip, hoping her lie wouldn't be caught.

"You'll only get sicker if you stay outside in this heat, you should go inside and rest if you're not feeling well," he stood and waited for her to turn and walk back towards inside.

_'Well fuck, next time I need to not look so spaced out,'_ she thought as she continued to walk around the palace, _'So where should I go now? I am sure as hell not about to go back up to my room… I could scope out the place beneath my window, see how far the nearest guards are posted so I can ensure a safe communication with 'kura.'_

Grinning, she snuck back outside and walked through the gardens until she found her window on the walls. She looked around trying to find guards, but found none.

'Impossible, they wouldn't leave a wall completely out of view… they must be posted outside… but I'll never see them from here.' The way she saw it, there was no way she would be able to get the view with her own eyes._ 'Shit, I don't want to summon my ka.'_

Pacing around she was trying to think of something, until the answer hit her in the face. She found herself tripping over a small stone that had been hidden by the sand. "Perfect," she whispered.

She picked up the stone and hurled it over the wall. After she heard it clunk on the ground she waited to hear for guards.

"Hey, did you hear that?" one of them asked, clearly not far.

"Yea, did you see anything?" another, much farther away replied, his voice barely making it to her.

"Nope."

"That's weird," she heard the second one's voice approaching.

_'Alright, so there's at least two guards posted on the back wall… not bad Pharaoh. I'll still get past you though,'_ she wanted to laugh, or at least grin, but she knew she couldn't without giving herself away. So once she'd finished scouting the place, and memorizing the paths and hallways of the palace she returned to her room.

-…-…-…-

"Sunset, FINALLY," Bakura had been stomping around waiting for the darkness to cover Egypt.

"Master Bakura, you must be patient…"

"Why? The Pharaoh's death is just waiting to happen. Why must this take so damn long?" Bakura was getting upset. He was pacing around, waiting for word to have been sent from Ati, "I sent that damn hawk a while ago!"

"I'm sure she'll be getting it soon, don't worry."

"I'm not worried. I'm impatient. Everything is finally falling into place."

"You've waited years for this chance," the lieutenant tried to calm him, "I'm sure a few more days won't hurt."

"I know, but I just can't. So many years in the making… the Pharaoh will finally get what he deserves for what he did to my village."

"Yes, Master Bakura, so we must be patient and not allow this to make us sloppy."

Bakura nodded, "Come get me when the hawk arrives with word from Ati."

"Yes Master Bakura."

-…-…-…-

The sound of ruffling feathers brought Ati out of her daydreaming and she saw a small hawk perched in her window, "Well aren't you a smart one?"

She took the scroll that was attached to its leg and found the jar of ink she'd kept hidden in her clothes, and apologized to the bird before pulling a loose feather from its wing. She wrote Bakura:

'_kura!_

_ Being here is a living hell. Everyone is so obsessed with this man it makes me want to gouge their eyes out. On the other note, I've successfully infiltrated and convinced everyone that I'm as stupidly in love as they are. I even talked to the pharaoh himself, and he's dumb as ever. Regardless, I didn't get to sneak around today as much as I'd have liked, but I do have the corridors of this side that I'm on pretty much memorized. Next time, send an extra scroll and I'll draw you a map, though it may not be necessary. The main room is just straight in from the doors, where the pharaoh spends most of his time. I probably won't be able to sneak around to the other side and get to the Pharaoh's quarters, his council is obnoxiously strung out. _

_ When there's the greatest opportunity to attack, I'll let you know._

_ -Ati_

_p.s. you better be fucking happy I love you enough to torture myself like this._

She smiled at her note and made sure it was dry before rolling it back up and reattaching it to the hawks leg. "Go quickly, and don't make a sound."

All she heard was the light rustle of its wings as it took flight and was hidden in the shadows, _'I guess I should go to bed. Tomorrow I have to perform for my king.' _She stared at the new clothes they had brought her while she was out of her room. She changed and crawled into her new bed, enjoying the luxury of the feather bed, before falling asleep quickly.

"Hey Bakura?" she walked timidly up to the man who could instill fear in you just by being present.

"What is it Ati?" he was clearly busy. Sitting down over a piece of parchment, very busy.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your horse?"

His head turned straight around to look at her dead on, it looked almost like a full one-eighty, "What?"

"I wanted to go to the oasis," she bit her lip, "it's been forever since I had the chance to get clean. It must be at least a week since you found me, a week since I've had a bath."

"No," he turned around quickly, saying nothing more.

"Please Bakura! I'll be back by sunset! I just wanna get clean," she was pouting, and eventually he realized he was either going to sit there and hear her complain about getting clean, or he would let her go get clean.

"Look," he dropped the pen down forcefully and her lips sealed, "I'll let you go-"

"Yay!"

"-but I'm going with."

She opened her lips to argue but saw that wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"If you go on your own you'll get lost. Since you haven't gotten to ride around here on your own horse yet, I'm not going to run the risk of letting you get lost in the desert. Go get your clothes and lets go," he got up and grabbed a change of clothes as well, he could use a bath and he knew it.

She ran back to her quarters and grabbed her clothes; she didn't want to keep him waiting since he was being so nice today. When she came back outside he was already on the horse waiting for her. She tucked her clothes in the side sack and hopped up behind him, holding tight to his waist as he took off. _'I bet he only likes taking me because I hug him, and that's probably the most affection he's had since he was a child,'_ she found herself feeling bad for him, even though he was incredibly brutal, and it was hard to imagine him any other way. Even though she was deep in thought, she made sure she paid attention on how to get to the oasis. Of course, with sand as your land marker it's very easy to get lost, so she had to count meters, or seconds.

When they finally arrived she hopped off first and took the reins from Bakura, so she could tie up the horse while he got off.

He stripped naked and hopped in while she was tieing up the horse, so when she walked over to the clear water she saw him in the water, staring at her.

"Do you mind?" She hissed.

"No, I got naked for you," he grinned.

"I wasn't watching," she growled.

"So? That's not my fault."

"Please turn the other way," she pleaded.

After a minor resistance he sighed, "If I must!"

"You must," she stuck her tongue out.

Once he'd turned around she quickly threw off her clothes and hopped in the water, happy he hadn't turned around yet.

"Can I turn around now? I feel stupid."

"Mm," she smiled. "Thank you."

He shrugged, like he didn't really care.

Ati let her hair fall into the water and she scrubbed as best as she could to get the sand out, while Bakura laughed at her efforts.

"Its pointless," he laughed, "The sand will only end up right back in your hair."

She glared at him, "So look at your hair, it's all knotted and broken into chunks because of all the sand caked in there."

He blushed, looking down at his own hair before dunking his head under the water.

She grinned, and made her way over to him, "here let me help."

"I don't need help," he pushed her away with a free hand.

"Yes, you do," she pushed his hands away and started to mend his hair, "You probably haven't treated your hair in years, so you probably don't remember how to."

He growled, "so?"

"So let me help you," she hit him on the head. Instead of turning around and grabbing her, like she'd expected, his shoulders dropped and he admitted defeat. She slowly pulled all the chunks of sand out gently, with minimum damage to his hair. "See? Now you look all pretty, with clean hair."

"Thanks," he started to say as he turned around, finding himself only a couple inches from her face. He blushed and lost his footing, falling backwards into the water.

"'kura!" she reached out and grabbed him, finding his face redder than ever when he resurfaced, "'kura are you okay?"

"'kura?" his blush wasn't going away.

"You told me to never call you by your name outside camp, and I couldn't think of a better name… so I just shortened it!" she smiled, "by the way, why so red?"

He looked down.

"You opened your eyes under water didn't you?" she was glaring at him

"I was freaking out! They were open when I fell under!"

"Excuses," she growled, "I guess there's no point in making you turn since you've already seen. We should be going back, your lieutenants will get worried."

He nodded, watching her get out from the refreshing water and walk over to where she'd gotten in. She dried off with her old clothes before grabbing and throwing on her new ones.

She turned to him, "Are you coming or what?"

He huffed, "Yes. Now turn around."

"Why? You saw, it's only fair that I see this time," she grinned, watching the red settle further into his cheeks. Apparently, kidnapping and raping was more his style than actual flirting. He got out grumbling something while he dried off, making sure she got a good look before coming to the horse to put on new clothes.

"Are you ready?" he hopped on the horse while she untied it.

"I'm waiting on you," she laughed and hopped on behind him.

* * *

**lol, bakura being shy? who'd'a thunk?**

**And now we all know why bakura's hair lays the way it does.**

**Oh Oh hey, by the way. REVIEW! :)  
**


	7. End of Week 1

**Here you go, a totally Bakura-centric chapter. Because I love him, and Ati was hogging his screen time. :)**

**P.S. Sorry it took so long to get up, there was an error every time i tried to add the chapter.  
**

* * *

Bakura was woken in the middle of the night by a hawk walking up and down his chest, "What do you want, you stupid bird?"

The hawk pecked him on the head and waved its leg around.

"Oh right, Ati's letter," he grinned happy that the plan worked. He took the scroll from the foot of the bird and lit a candle so he could read it. He wanted to laugh at her sounding so pathetic, but restrained himself.

He decided it would be better to wait until later in the day to write her a response and instead fed the hawk and returned to his sleep.

When he woke in the morning everyone was waiting for him. They spent the morning drawing plans of things they would need to make this break in possible. Of course to be classy they would have to raid as many tombs as possible before arriving, but the one Bakura didn't want to miss was the one of Ahknenkamun, the Pharaoh's father.

With everyone ready he hastily rolled the scrolls and put them in the side satchel of the horse before hopping on and leading them on their way. What he didn't notice in his haste was that the straps under the saddle were breaking, and wouldn't last much longer.

'_What's going on? Something isn't right, I should have checked the horse before we left. My saddle shouldn't be moving around this much,'_ Bakura's face was an equal mixture of pissed off and confusion. He hoped the saddle would at least last long enough for him to go steal another one.

"Gents," he turned his head, "Has anyone extra straps? I'm pretty sure my saddles coming undone."

Various shrugs and heads shook, "there's a village not far from here, we can go raid some people if you'd like."

"We don't have a choice," Bakura turned and lead them toward the village, but unfortunately, his saddle decided it wouldn't last. The strap broke free and whipped his horse in the leg, leaving it to run around in shock with Bakura holding tightly to the reins. He tried with his legs to keep the saddle and himself in place, but felt the saddle falling off to the side. With a small snap, the other strap broke as well and the saddle fell off, which only proved to scare the horse worse. Bakura fell to its side and tried his best to keep from being trampled on.

"Master Bakura!" one of the lieutenants jumped off his horse and grabbed the saddle while the other went up and tried to calm the horse.

Finally grabbing a decent footing in the sand, and timing it right, Bakura jumped off the sand and was able to hoist himself back up on the horse. Leaving him to really only hold onto the damn thing and keep it from running off.

"This is not going to be my day," Bakura sighed.

They finally calmed the horse down and were able to continue on, only now Bakura had to ride with only a blanket that one of the others had with them, while a lieutenant carried the saddle.

"Nothing came out right?" Bakura checked before they took off again.

He shook his head and checked again. "Everything is here, even the plans in the satchel."

Bakura nodded, "Good. Let's get to that village."

They took off, riding for a while before arriving at the village. With some stolen money they treated themselves to lunch and Bakura left his lieutenants to pick who would steal the straps, so they could be trained in daylight robbery.

In the meantime however, Bakura returned to his horse, and decided to check his saddle for any more problems before they left this village. Happy to find none, he waited patiently for his thieves to come back. The two that were left in charge of stealing the saddle straps brought them to Bakura, and he couldn't help but grin at the redness in their faces. They'd never spoken, and as far as they were concerned, Bakura could have been a god. The only people to ever speak directly to him were the lieutenants and Ati.

"Tell me," he seemed interested, "how'd you do it?"

He waited to see some kind of childish pleasure on their faces, awaiting to be thanked for a job well done, but neither of them wanted to speak.

"Well? Did you beat up the shop owner? Threaten them with knives? Tell me," Bakura was plainly eager.

"Well uhm… Master Bakura," the frailest looking one started, "Kau here started knocking over their stuff, yelling at them and threatening them of course, while I went around behind him and asked them where it was."

"And?" _'So good so far,' _he thought.

"When they didn't answer me, I knocked some more stuff over," the boy continued.

Bakura was almost grinning, that prideful look was arising on the boys face, "and then what?"

"They wouldn't say, so Kau pulled his dagger, and I kept knocking over things, but they never spilled… so I ended up digging through their drawers until I found it," the boys grin faded.

"So a strong start but poor finish?" Bakura wanted to laugh.

The boys nodded.

"Next time," he pointed at them, "when you're behind them, come up and grab them by their hair and leave your knife at their neck. Ask them if they want to live. They're always more pathetic and weak if they can't see their attackers."

The boys nodded, "Thank you Master Bakura," and ran off.

Bakura took the straps and quickly repaired his saddle and placed it back on his horse, _'See? You feel better already don't you?'_ The horse hadn't liked the blanket; maybe Bakura's butt was too hard and irritated the horses back more than the weight of the saddle.

"Are you ready Master Bakura?" the first lieutenant asked.

Bakura nodded and took off, "We lost daylight men, we must move quickly."

They arrived at the valley of the kings with plenty of time, and bakura pulled out his map, finding the one for Ahknenkamun and entering it with caution. "Men, stay here. I'll return shortly." And with that Bakura disappeared into the shadows.

"Are you sure we can just let our leader go in there?" one of the lower men asked.

The lieutenants laughed, "Don't worry about it."

"Yea, if anyone can make it through the tombs of the Pharaohs, Master Bakura can."

All the underlings watched with a touch of nervousness, while the lieutenants just laid back and waited.

-…-…-…-

Hopping across gaps in the floor and dodging falling axes was nothing for Bakura. Making sure he didn't set off foot traps was also unrealistically simple.

"Come now, couldn't you have made this more difficult?" he laughed as he jumped down the side of a corridor, knowing that if he took one step out of place the floor would make way and leave gaps that left you to fall into the shadow realm.

He finally reached the last chamber, the chamber of judgement. Snakes, scorpions, scarabs, and many other types of animals were nested all over the floor, and Bakura would have to find a way across. He examined the room quickly and found hand and foot holds on the walls sides so he hopped up quickly and made his way to the other side of the room.

"Far too simple," he laughed as he continued into the resting place of the Pharaoh. He found himself eye to eye with the sarcophagus of Ahknenkamun, "I win Pharaoh."

He took what jewels he could, and stuffed some extra inside his robes, and pulled out a rope, "And now for my biggest prize." He tied up the sarcophagus and headed out back out of the tomb.

When he surfaced a little while later he saw his thieves sitting around, casually waiting for him, "Why are you just standing here? We were supposed to raid more than one tonight."

Bakura facepalmed.

The lieutenants pointed to their prizes, "only 3 tonight right?"

Bakura nodded, "Fine, let's go. Tomorrow we can give this present to the king," he tugged on the rope for the sarcophagus. They strapped up and pushed off.

It was well past sunset when they returned and after stashing away their prizes, Bakura went quickly and wrote a note to Ati.

_Ati,_

_Please respond immediately tonight. Good job on infiltrating so perfectly, I knew you could. We raided Ahknenkamun's tomb, and plan to bring the Pharaoh a little warning gift tomorrow. I'll attach the extra parchment so you can draw us a plan. Also, guard posts would be most helpful. _

_Also, to cheer you up, since I can only imagine the hatred you have in your heart right now, I have a short story for you. Once upon a time, your lover forgot to check his saddle, and halfway through a ride to the Valley of the Kings, a strap broke. This left your lover holding on stupidly to the reins of his horse so the horse didn't run off. Luckily, I am alive. And no I didn't get injured, I'm completely fine._

_-kura._

He attached his letter and a separate scroll to the hawk's leg and sent it on its way.

By the time he was ready to go to sleep the hawk returned with his answer, and his map.

'_kura,_

_Why are you so dumb? Don't you know you're supposed to check the horse FIRST? Knowing you, you were probably in such a hurry that you forgot to check. Maybe next time you'll think first…then again, maybe not… this is you… _

_Anyway, I drew your map, and I got a little better detail since I had to go perform for that wretched man. Honestly, I feel gross letting him look at my body, it's disgusting. God what if I gave him a hard on? That would be even worse! _

…_Sorry, anyway, all the guards are marked by 'x's and the pharaoh has a skull and cross bones. Appropriately. _

_Well I'm going to sleep and I know you don't like waiting. Good night 'kura! _

_-Ati_

He pulled out the map and found it drawn with exquisite detail, "Thank you Ati. Even far away you're incredibly useful."

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**Reviews? Reviews? Herroooo? :)**


	8. Day 8: Truths and Lies

**Hi! Sorry it took so long, the links to edit stories got messed up, but thanks to a friend I found a way around it :)**

**Anywho, I got a little drawn into writing this chapter. which is why its the longest out of all of them. **

**I hope you enjoy! (and accept this as an apology for not posting in a while)  
**

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Bakura woke up grinning, "Finally this day arrives." He made sure he grabbed his map and all his jewels before running outside where his men were getting the horses ready.

"Lieutentants," he called, "how much longer?"

They shrugged, "Not much Master Bakura."

Bakura checked his horse before tying the sarcophagus to the horse's saddle and getting on.

"Is your horse ready today?" the first Lieutenant asked.

Bakura nodded, glaring at his lieutenant, "Let's go. We don't wanna be late for our grand entrance."

They grinned and rode on behind him.

-…-…-…-

Ati was rehearsing the dance for this afternoon with some other dancers that she would be performing with later. _'I wonder when 'kura will arrive? He said he's planning to stop by today and bring the pharaoh a present… I wonder what it'll be…'_

Ati continued doing the dance moves easily, with minimal concentration required.

"You girls should get ready, it's almost time," Maani clapped her hands and shooed them to their rooms.

Ati put on a dress similar to the one she had stolen, but in a pale pink color as the pharaoh had requested. As well it went with their theme since they were all supposed to wear the same color when performing.

She couldn't stop thinking about being able to see the one she truly loved, and before she noticed it she had a true genuine smile that she couldn't wipe from her face.

When they finally went down to the grand room, they waited to be summoned by the pharaoh. The girls sat on the floor, heads lowered so as not to be rude.

They were finally summoned after previous entertainment had left, and they started dancing, performing for their king. Ati tried to keep a close eye on him, making sure he wasn't trying to watch her for flaws, not that there would be any. However, she also watched him to make sure he wasn't watching her. She felt disgusting enough showing him her body, let alone being entertainment for him. _'At least 'kura didn't try to make me a mistress,' _she thought sickly.

A loud crash interrupted their dancing, and nearly scared the living hell out of Ati as they all turned and looked at the entrance.

The doors had been blown open, and Ati knew who would be behind it, but didn't think for a second that explosives would be brought into the equation. She blinked, staring with the other girls toward the door, but her eye was trained enough to see the thief riding in quickly on his horse, and she could hear the sound of something being dragged behind it.

"Get out of the way!" she screamed, and all the other girls started screaming, seeing him ride in fiercely on the horse, hardly paying attention to anyone but himself.

Ati stood back with the rest of the girls, pretending to be scared for her life. She was able to hide behind some of the other girls, pretending like she was deathly afraid of Bakura for "what he did to her".

"Pharaoh," Bakura spoke, and it was music to Ati's ears. It'd been so long since she'd heard that silky voice. It reminded her of the mornings that she woke up curled up against him, her fingers circling around in his hair, just relaxing on an easy day. And those rare days when he was a normal human being, somewhat nice – well to her anyway – but those days were far and few between.

In her day dream she forgot to be paying attention to what was going on, Bakura was already stepping on the sarcophagus he had brought, which she figured was Ahknenkamun by the look on the Pharaoh's face.

Bakura laughed at the look on the king's face, "I'm sorry? Did I just disrespect your father?"

"Watch who you're speaking to," Seto started scolding.

"Oh shut it you stupid priest, you know nothing," Bakura spat at him. "I have every right to be disrespectful to this man under my feet and the man before me. Let me remind you of a little town called Kul Elna."

Ati watched sympathetically, she could clearly see the strain on Bakura when he retold the story of seeing his parents boiled alive just to forge the Millenium Items. No one else would have noticed it, but the way his jaw clenched from the constant teeth grinding, and the way his shoulders pulled back defensively, like it was magically going to put a wall between him and the next guy. She kept reading his body language, kept watching the Pharaoh's reactions, and was dazed when she saw Bakura summon his ka.

She'd heard all about it, but he'd never once summoned it before her. And now she couldn't help but blink in awe, that monster was so big, maybe as big as his ego and his broken heart put together. She could see very clearly why this monster took this shape. Half beast, half snake. The beast represented his strength, despite his hardships, and his will to continue, but the snake was physical representation of his distance to people. Outside of Ati he didn't come within an arms length of anyone. Not even the lieutenants if he could help it. He clearly didn't trust anyone, and what better to keep people away than a vicious snake?

She watched the priests summon their ka before Mother Maani regained her head and made all the girls retreat to their quarters.

"We just got one of us out of their hands, we don't want to lose another," she stated as she herded them away.

Ati heard some muttered comment about how maybe that was why Bakura had returned, to take his slut. She wanted to facepalm at how stupid these girls were, and while she would love to run back home to 'kura where everyone at least knew what was going on, she had to continue her role. She was slightly bitter about not being able to watch her 'kura destroy the King of Egypt.

"Come girls lets return to our quarters, they'll get mad if we interfere," Mother Maani pushed the girls away who were still in shock at seeing such a battle.

Ati hoped to know how it ended as she was pushed away.

-…-…-…-

"Prepare to die," Bakura grinned, sending his Diabound against the priests monsters, defeating them easily once he figured out their strategy. While the others were down he sent his Diabound into the walls to come up from behind and kill that stupid man that called himself a God.

Diabound rose from the ground stealthly, and was about to deliver a swift judgement, when it was caught, in the fist of a god. Bakura blinked, seeing only that the Pharaoh had summoned an Egyptian god just in time.

"Don't judge me so lightly Bakura," the Pharaoh had Obelisk send Bakura's Diabound flying. The feeling of his ka being injured made Bakura fall to his knees.

'_I never thought he would have the ability to summon a god, oh well,'_ Bakura thought while he stood up and pulled himself together. "So this is the power of the man who calls himself Pharaoh. You caught me off guard, but when I return my Diabound will not only crush all of your priests and bring me their Millennium Items, but it will crush your gods as well." He withdrew his ka and rode off swiftly on his horse.

"Pharaoh," everyone turned to the man they called King, who was holding his father's corpse in his hands.

He wasn't listening as they were speaking in confusing over his ability to summon the nameless gods. He was more focused on holding the body of the man he knew as father.

"This must be fixed," he muttered.

Mahad came up to him, bowing and apologized, "I'm sorry my Pharaoh, we rigged your father's tomb with the best traps we had, and it was still simple for him to make it through alive… I will make sure that this never happens again."

The Pharaoh nodded, "Yes, thank you Mahad."

-…-…-…-

It felt like forever since Ati had been pushed from the grand room, pushed away from the one she loved and the one she hated. She wanted to know how it had ended, but of course if she had run off after returning to her quarters, it would only have made it suspicious.

She figured that the Pharaoh must have lived, otherwise everyone would be freaking out more than they already were that there was an intruder of such power in the palace. Disappointed she lay on her bed and attempted a nap since there wouldn't be anything left for her to do.

It was a hot day, probably the hottest in Ati's memory, but that didn't make it any less of a good day. She was alive, free, and at ease; everything she could have ever asked for. Well, almost anything; she wasn't in love, but she wasn't not in love.

She watched the silver haired man fixing his horse, and she snuck up behind him and covered his eyes.

He growled and went to flip her over his shoulder, but once he'd started lifting her into the air she locked her legs around his torso, "No, I'm not moving. Not 'til you guess who it is!"

He hissed, "Ati, get the fuck off of me and act like the adult you are."

She pouted, "You're no fun today 'kura! It's a beautiful day-"

"-and it's hot as hell."

"Doesn't stop it from being a good day," she laughed, releasing her legs grasp from his torso and put them back on the ground, "What're we doing today?"

"I am going to town to grab some supplies," he made a very clear emphasis that he wanted to be alone.

"So, I can't come with you can I?" she stuck out her lower lip, knowing that her pouting wasn't actually going to make him have a heart, but it might make him relax a little, which is what she was aiming for. He was so strung out all the time that his shoulders never fell, his back was constantly strained, and from what she could tell in a lot of pain from how he kept grabbing it, and his eyes were sinking in from his lack of sleep.

"No," he hissed and mounted his horse.

"You're going to fall off," she smiled.

"And why do you say that? And so smiley?" he wasn't in the mood for games.

"Get off and I'll show you," she grinned.

He got off the horse and stood next to her, "what?"

She pointed where the under strap connected to the other side of the straddle. The buckle was coming undone and wasn't going to last much longer, "It would have snapped off, freaked out your horse and you would be thrown and left for dead in the desert."

He nodded, "thanks, I'll take yours then."

"Only if I come with you," she growled. "I can ride your horse without a saddle, I don't need one, just bring me a blanket and I'll ride her."

He wasn't happy, "why are you doing this?"

She shrugged, "doing what?"

"BEING SO OBNOXIOUS!"

"I want my leader alive," she blinked, "I didn't realize that was a bad thing."

"That's not it and you know it," he was starting to blush.

"Fine," she growled and stopped undoing the saddle for his horse, "If you really don't want me to go I won't."

'_I hate women,'_ he thought and got off the horse and followed her to her housing. Not realizing that she was changing, he walked in right as she pulled her dress up over her head, mumbling something about how he was ungrateful and was going to die young because he couldn't ever find a reason to be happy. "Why didn't you just say that?" he laughed when she jumped.

"You bastard," she hissed, "why'd you follow me in here?"

He rolled his eyes, "I don't know much but I can tell when women are being manipulative. You're throwing a fit so I'll let you go with me."

She blinked, but continued to put on lighter clothes before she turned around, "Yea? And?" She had changed into a split tunic. The lower half wrapped somewhat like a shendyt and the top cropped and tightened under the breast, leaving her midriff open and breathable for a hot day like this.

"You could have just said you were worried about me," He laughed, "It's funny the peasant girl falling for the king of thieves."

She rolled her eyes, "It's not healthy the way you are. Forgive me for caring for the man that saved me."

He came up to her in less than a second, his hands caressing her, sliding down her arm and resting on her bare stomach. He grinned internally at the sight of her blush, "You are in love with me aren't you?"

She shook her head, feeling overwhelmed, "Why would I love an asshole like you?"

He grinned, wanting to see how much longer she could resist. He had known since their trip to the spring that she was flirting with him, so he took his other hand and cupped her cheek and pulled her close, leaving their lips only inches apart.

He saw the red in her cheeks when she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to be honest," He was loving torturing her like this.

"You're just cruel 'kura. If you're going to go do your errands you should go," she turned her face away, but found it pushed right back to the same place by his other hand, leaving both hands cupping her face.

"You're the one who wants me," he grinned, "I don't need you, but some entertainment would definitely be a nice addition to my free time."

She hissed, "I'm not going to be your entertainment."

"Then say it."

She sighed, "Fine. I like you okay? I don't know why I'm attracted to such an asshole like yourself, especially because you do things like this, but I am. Ever since that day-" she cut herself off, not wanting to finish.

"Finish what you were saying," he was smiling, genuinely, but still maliciously.

She shook her head, "I won't."

"Say it," he grinned.

"Or what?" she laughed, nothing he could do would make this worse.

"This," he slid his hand down her front and between her legs, sensitizing every square inch of skin he touched until he was cupping her genitals in his hands.

She groaned, "You are so not fair."

"You would enjoy it anyway," he grinned, "since you've already confessed that you like me."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine. Since that day at the oasis… I've liked you. Because I saw you as a human, not this impenetrable wall that blocks everyone out. It made me want to learn more about you."

He grinned, returning his hand to her face, "That wasn't so bad was it?"

She nodded and he released her face from his grip and leaned away, making her feel more shattered than anything. She opened her mouth like a guppy at his action.

"Fine you can come with me, but you're coming in that," he grinned and grabbed her wrist, dragging her to the horses.

She pulled the saddle off his horse and left it on the stable, and threw a blanket over the horses back and smoothed it over.

"Don't bother," he reached out to take her hand, "We'll just take yours."

She blinked, more confused than she had been. She confessed her love and now he's being nice. _'Maybe he's just doing this to get my hopes up so he can crush them? He does like toying with people. Or maybe he just wants to do this to get laid. If he'd actually had any returning of my feelings he'd have definitely kissed me then,' _She thought unhappily as she hopped up behind him on the horse and wrapped her arms tightly around his torso as they rode off to the village.

It didn't take long for Bakura to grab what they needed while Ati tended the horse. He returned after only a short while of going into the village, leaving a storm of angry and yelling villagers in his wake while they rode off back to their village.

"That was fast," her first words to him since that morning.

He nodded, "I am the king of thieves you know."

She nodded, holding onto him tighter as the horse picked up speed. She rest her head against his back to keep the wind out of her mouth, and also because it was just too hard to hold her neck away from him.

"Hey," he asked, somewhat quietly, to see if she was awake.

"Yea?" she raised her head.

"Do you want to stay with me tonight?" he sounded weak, almost tired she thought. If she'd known him then like she knew him now, it was his sound of fear, of doubt.

She blinked, "Are you being serious? Or are just trying to make fun of me?"

He shrugged, expecting her suspicion, "I'm being serious. You can stay the night with me, and really decide if you still like me then."

She nodded slowly, "If it's really alright with you then I guess. I just don't want you making fun of me. I know you like to exploit people and their weaknesses. If you do that to me I'll never forgive you. Understand?"

He nodded, whispering, "Exploiting your weakness would mean exploiting mine as well."

"What?" she heard half of it.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

She growled, "Honestly 'kura. I don't know why I told you. I'm all nervous because I don't know what you're thinking, and I feel embarrassed about earlier… and now I'm confused because I don't know what's going on."

"I just made a comment to myself," he laughed, and patted her arms that were wrapped around his stomach, "don't worry yourself yet. I'll tell you when we get back."

She shook her head into his back, "If you don't feel the same way, I won't stay with you tonight. I'm not going to be just some entertainment!"

He laughed.

She hit him with her head, "Don't make fun of me! I'm not good at telling people I like them, and having to tell the king of thieves that likes to joke and ridicule people is probably the hardest part. And now you're just laughing at me."

"Would you shut up already?" he was getting impatient with her bickering. "I understand you're confused but I'm not telling you anything until we get home okay. And you _are_ staying with me tonight. That's decided."

She blinked, and decided to stay quiet the rest of the trip back. Although the silence was starting to bother Bakura he was glad she listened and he remained quiet until they returned to Kul Elna.

"Just bring the bags inside, we'll fix my saddle in the morning," Bakura waited for her to grab the bags and walked with her to his room.

She wondered why he waited; it wasn't like she didn't know where he lived. Maybe he was afraid that she would go back to her own quarters. Once they were inside he took the bags and put them in the side of the room.

She stood there, confused and unsure of what she was supposed to do. But he answered that by standing in front of her again.

"Will you explain now?" she stated, finding his face close to hers again. "More close talking?"

He nodded, "I'm not going to confess to you."

She nodded, "I figured as much, unrequited love is what I was expecting…"

"You didn't say love earlier," he smiled.

A deep crimson filled her cheeks, "It doesn't matter."

"For someone who notices so much about me," he laughed, "the way you can tell my stress marks or anger, you can't tell anything else."

Then she noticed, his smile wasn't mischievous, or malicious, it was honest. He was genuinely smiling. However, before she could say anything more she found his lips against hers, but it was such a short moment that she almost thought she was dreaming.

"'kura?" she blinked, seeing the red in his dark cheeks.

He pulled away from her quickly.

She couldn't do anything more than stare blankly in his direction.

"No one has ever cared about me," he looked shier than she could have ever imagined, and embarrassed as well.

"Oh," she nodded and came up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. "I do care about you though… and I know you heard me saying stuff when I was changing… and I mean it. I worry about you, you're strong and powerful, but you can't relax. You haven't slept in weeks, and you're so tense that it's hurting your bones."

Slowly his arms raised and wrapped around her as well. He was at a loss of words, so he bit his lip, "so what do you suggest I do?"

She shrugged, "I don't know how to make you relax, but you can at least get a good night's rest."

He mumbled something about never having slept around people before, and trust issues among other things.

She rolled her eyes, "I've slept in this village with you every night, as have all the other thieves. If they haven't done anything by now, then nothing is going to happen. You can relax. You're among family and friends," she pulled herself from the hug and looked at him, "Let's go to bed?"

He nodded and pulled her over to his bed with him.

"I have an idea," she grinned, "Lay on your stomach."

His eyes shot daggers; he wouldn't dare leave himself so vulnerable.

"I'm going to work the knots out of your back, it'll alleviate the pain."

He groaned, and rolled over. She straddled his back, feeling him jolt with the shock, but he made himself calm down. Slowly, she worked her fingers against the muscles in his back, starting in the area he was always grabbing at. His back was nothing but knots, and she didn't stop until she worked out every single one. With the worst ones he winced, or even yelled at her, but started moaning about how it felt good a couple seconds later.

When she finished she just continued to rub his back, to put him at ease, until she heard him snoring. "He's finally asleep," she whispered, and rolled off his back and to the other side of the bed so as to not disturb his sleep.

She woke to the feeling a hawk scratching her arm, and she realized she was back in the palace, "Best. Dream. Ever." She was smiling as she read the note from her beloved.

_Ati,_

_Well, unfortunately I'm going to have to make another trip to the palace. The Pharaoh shocked me and summoned one of the gods. I'll have to strengthen my Diabound before I can return to get our revenge. But don't worry, I know you're going crazy living there but I can ensure you that this won't last much longer. _

_-'kura_

Ati smiled at his bluntness. She wrote a letter back that she would keep him updated on the events as they passed.

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**Well there you have it :) the longest dream sequence ever. **

**If you have complaints or compliments, please review :) I love to hear from my readers.  
**


	9. Days 9 to 11: Golden Treasure

**Shortest chapter ever, and i'm so sorry.**

**Its just this day was very slowllly passing. I even had to skip a couple.  
**

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A couple days passed, but Ati sent letters to Bakura of the priests plans. She had seen Master Mahad leaving in the morning and informed Bakura, knowing that if the priests were separated it would be much easier to take their millennium items from them.

-…-…-…-

Bakura waited outside the valley of the kings, watching as Mahad and his men crowded around one tomb entrance.

"Gotcha," he whispered. Bakura made his presence known as he beat the shit out of guards that dare get in his way.

He walked into the tomb, expecting this to be simple, since he'd been there before, but found himself face to face with Mahad.

"You plan to stop me?" Bakura was grinning.

Mahad shook his head, "Yes… we can't return the former Pharaoh to this tomb, so we've decided to make it yours."

Bakura laughed, "Like you think you can really kill me? Your ka stood no chance against mine."

"At that time I wasn't using my full power," Mahad smiled and released his full power.

Bakura laughed and started fighting the magician, thinking it wouldn't make a difference. Bakura fought hard and had Mahad clinging to life until Mahad fused his soul with his ka, and his body was destroyed by a swinging axe.

"I told you," Bakura grinned as he reached down and grabbed the millennium ring, and placed it around his neck.

"Don't judge me so quick," the ka of the priest stood.

"How can you still be alive?" Bakura blinked.

"Like I said, I fused my soul with my ka, I am only this, the Dark Magician, and by my hands you shall die," He stated, sending one last blast at Bakura, knocking him off the ledge and plummeting into the darkness.

Luckily the thief was saved by his Diabound, being pulled out of the darkness, and passing through the walls using Diabound's special ability. He watched Mahad's spirit appear on the stone slab outside before returning to his village with his new treasure.

He smiled as the guards looked at the slab in disbelief, jaws dropping with sorrow. Quietly he got on his horse and rode off as they dragged away the stone slab to return it to the Pharaoh.

Once he was within sight of Kul Elna, his thieves started rejoicing, glad he made it back alive. He held up the Millenium Ring to them and they cheered, "Men… Victory will be ours!" Everyone cheered and celebrated that night, but also trained to be stronger for their victory. Bakura was in the midst of training his lieutenants kas when the hawk arrived.

"You two; keep fighting," he pointed to the two men and took the bird inside. It lifted up its foot so Bakura could take the note out. He took the note from the hawks leg and unraveled it over the table next to him.

'_kura,_

_I saw what you did today, and I must say congratulations. I wish I was there to celebrate with you. The Pharaoh is truly unhappy, so much so that he let Seto go into the town to "strengthen the guards"… I really think he's up to something else. He is definitely keeping something from the king. Which is good, his men are turning against him, and when that's complete no one will be left to fight by his side. Then I can go home._

_One more thing, I heard rumors today that Seto had brought someone back to the palace but the pharaoh isn't allowed to know. Supposedly, they're keeping her in the dungeon, but I can't verify anything as of yet. If I learn anything more about what's going on around here I'll let you know. It just seems very suspicious to me, I think Seto is trying to defeat you without the knowledge of the Pharaoh… yet that's what Mahad did. _

_By the way, before you killed him you should have told him 'thank you'… after you and the lieutenants broke my bones, he healed me… so he really made most of this possible._

_Haha, congrats on our victory and hopefully many more._

_-Ati_

Bakura blinked as he re-read the last part of her letter. A filthy man of the Pharaoh's had actually managed to do something good? That was unexpected, but they had quite injured her badly, so it was good that they treated her wounds. He decided that he would wait to reply until he had something more to say and let the hawk get some rest while he returned to training his thieves kas.

-…-…-…-

Ati was up late, and couldn't sleep so she went for a walk. Now that she knew her way around the palace, and they trusted her, she could easily walk around the corridors she was allowed to. Which unfortunately meant she'd never be close to the Pharaoh or his council, but she figured that was for the best.

She soon found herself at the stables, where a heartbroken Mana was still tending to the horses since she didn't know what to do with herself.

"Mana?" Ati seemed upset that the girl was so heartbroken. She knew how it felt to lose someone close, so she could relate. She didn't want to bring up however that the Millenium Items were forged by sacrificing thousands of souls and that those who partook in using these items also deserved to be killed, and the items returned to their home so the spirits may finally rest.

The girl sniffled and turned around, "Oh, hey Ati."

Since Ati had arrived, she found that Mana was the one person she could easily talk to, and they had quickly become good "friends". Ati wasn't really sure if she should approach her or let Mana come to her, but decided she should go hug the girl. "You're taking this really hard aren't you?"

The girl continued crying, "He was supposed to teach me to be a great sorcerer! How will I ever be great without him?"

Ati shook her head, "You have the potential Mana, I know you do."

Mana sniffled, "Do you think so?"

Ati nodded, "You've used your freezing spell before, and it worked just fine."

The young girl nodded, but still wouldn't cheer up.

"Would you like to go for a ride?" Ati knew that riding always made her feel better.

Mana shrugged, "I just groomed them all."

Ati rolled her eyes, "Riding always makes me feel better… we can take a small ride just around the outskirts of the village and back, it won't be far or dangerous."

"But what about Bakura?"

Ati shrugged, "He was up all night last night and this morning fighting Mahad. He's bound to be exhausted enough to take one night off."

Mana nodded, "I wouldn't be able to stay up that long."

"So what do you say?" Ati was a little giddy.

Eventualy Mana caved, agreeing to a short ride and untied two horses. Ati climbed up and waited for the other girl before they rode off, taking a small stroll out of the palace before they started racing around the outskirts of the village.

The ride was good to free Mana's mind and give her a break. When they returned to the palace from their ride, she was smiling a bit, "I know what I'm going to do."

"And what's that?" Ati smiled.

"I'm going to be stronger, and become an apprentice that Master Mahad would be proud to call his student."

Ati grinned, "That sounds like a great plan."

She nodded, "And then I'll help the Pharaoh get revenge on Bakura for taking my Master."

Ati tried to keep smiling but her smile faded, "But Mana. That's going to take a lot of time to advance…"

She shrugged, "I'll study hard and do my best."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Ati attempted her smile again, hoping Mana wouldn't find out of her alliance with Bakura.

Ati helped Mana tie the horses back up and clean them off before they went their separate ways and Ati made her way to bed. She was happy, riding was truly the one thing that made her feel free when she was here, since it was the only time she got to feel the wind in her hair. She went to bed happy and dreamed more of her love.

* * *

**There you go :)**

**Uhm. There may be only a few more chapters up before I reach finals, so If there comes a while (and i'll let you know) where I'm not updating.. its because of finals and tests and projects and stuff being due. **

**Please reviewww! PREETTTYY PLEASEE (with cherries on top!)  
**


	10. Day 12: Asshole

**Sorry it took so long to get you a new chappie! I've had a lot of projects and tests recently X_x;; **

**But here it is. (a very long dream sequence, and then some real stuff, but i think we're almost done with the dream sequences)  
**

* * *

Ati woke up with something heavy on her that was keeping her from moving. She opened her eyes and saw an arm covering her face, and looked down to see a leg sprawled over her torso.

She froze, and thought for a second about what had happened the night before, she was in Bakura's bed. Sleeping.

She tried to roll over, but he wouldn't let her, he was so heavy from his muscles that he could have pinned her there for as long as he felt like.

And then she noticed the snoring. It was loud, as loud as she could possibly imagine, magnified by the fact his mouth was only inches from her ears.

She was so unhappy and struggled to try and get out of his grasp, but realized soon that it was futile. The more she moved, the louder he snored, the louder he snored the more she moved. It was a vicious cycle and she quickly gave up.

So she found herself laying there, half covered by the king of thieves who was snoring ever so loudly into her left ear. As happy as she was that he was grasping her tightly she was starting to feel like she was going deaf, but she was happy that he was finally relaxing. She eventually fell asleep again until she felt someone shaking her.

"Hey, get up already," the brisk voice was practically commanding her.

She rolled over and opened her eyes, seeing the silver haired man leaning over her, his hand on her shoulder. She had never seen his eyes so calm; such a relaxed and smooth chocolate color filled those orbs.

"Huh? What happened? You woke up?" She wasn't completely awake.

He nodded, "It's already late in the day. I have to go into town with the lieutenants tonight for a heist."

She nodded and got up, "alright… what do I do in the meantime?"

"You should practice, the training grounds are just outside the village to the south," he was watching her movements intensely.

She bit her lip, not wanting to ask about what this meant now.

He noticed the change in her eyes and shook his head, "We'll talk tonight."

She nodded and got up only to be pushed back down, "What was that for?"

"Stay there until we leave, I don't want them thinking anything and then spending the whole day harassing me," he was stressing, so she nodded.

She didn't want to stress him out right after he'd just relaxed, "I'll wait."

He smiled, "Thank you." He kissed her forehead and left, leaving her to think about what that meant.

She waited on his bed until she heard the horses ride off, and she made sure all the others who had stayed behind were doing something better than watching her sneak out back to the training grounds.

She spent the entire day training, only on strength though since she didn't have a ka of her own. She got lost in her thinking, and continued training herself until sunset. She realized Bakura would return soon, but couldn't bring herself to return back to camp. She was still confused about what their relationship had become. She thought he might actually like her back since he'd kissed her, twice now, but there was still the possibility of only wanting her for sex and that seemed much more along Bakura's style.

She was so deep in thought that she could have missed the sound of footsteps approaching, so she quickly hid amongst a couple crates and watched the figure approach. Once they stepped out of the shadows of the buildings and into the moonlight she instantly recognized the silver hair as Bakura.

"Ati, I know you're still out here," he tapped his foot impatiently.

She came out from the crates, "I didn't know it was you."

His eyes locked with hers and she saw the warm chocolate in his orbs and she wanted to smile, but refrained just in case.

"Why do you look so upset?" his voice questioned harshly and his eyes looked like they were freezing back up.

She blinked, "I don't know. I don't feel upset… uhm.. 'kura?"

"Oh yes, about tonight…" he nodded, trying to read her body language, which seemed unusually reserved, like she was building a wall between them.

"Right… about you kissing me," she started digging her toes into the sand, "what that meant?"

He shrugged, slightly cocky, "What do you think it meant?"

She turned and apologized for her behavior, "I'll just go back to camp." She was thinking he'd be a little more human today and less rigid, but even his body language was still very tense. Only his eyes seemed to have softened temporarily.

He grabbed her arm before she could walk away, "Ati, don't leave. I'm trying to not be an asshole."

"You're not doing a very good job," she bit her lip.

"I know. I'm sorry," he shook his head, which got her attention. Those words were the last she'd ever expect to pass his lips. "I know I'm an ass and I'm sure you think that I only kissed you because I want between your legs, but that's not true."

"You're not acting that way," she mumbled.

He nodded, "Ordinarily I would hurt you for saying that, but I deserve it."

She turned around and looked him straight on, "So tell me what you want to do 'kura. I'm at your beck and call you know."

"You. I want you Ati," he bit his lip, thinking hard, "I won't lie and say that I care about you, but I want to learn to."

She understood that for him to care about someone was going to be a huge feat, that would probably be impossible, "Even if you don't care about me, I'll understand. I know what you've been through 'kura, and I could never ask you to thaw your frozen heart completely. I'll be happy if you care even just a little."

"So is that a yes?"

She nodded and found her hand taken in his.

"Let's go home," he attempted a smile.

"Oh, by the way," she laughed, "you snored."

"I don't snore, you're lying," he growled, "I never sleep that deep that I snore."

"Well you did last night," she laughed.

They returned to camp hand in hand, and he sent her into her quarters to grab her things and bring them to his.

"Master Bakura," the first lieutenant looked shocked, "You must be joking, you don't seriously intend to use her like a prostitute!"

"No, I don't," he agreed, "She's mine from today on, and that doesn't mean just sexually."

Now the other thieves had gathered around, muttering small disagreements or shocked statements.

"You can't honestly think that's a good idea?" the second lieutenant was clearly upset.

"You only think that because you wanted her for yourself," he laughed, "You're not going take her from me."

"She probably thinks you're an asshole for making her move in," the first lieutenant stated.

"Actually, I think he's the best asshole in the world," she popped up completely unseen and wrapped her arms around Bakura's neck.

"What kind of magic did you use on her?" everyone seemed shocked.

She shook her head, "No magic. But I'm tired so I'm going to bed ok 'kura?" She pressed a small kiss to his cheek before turning and going back to their house.

-…-…-…-

When Ati woke up, she remembered that today she wasn't performing for the Pharaoh, half of the girls made a different routine that would be performed for the Pharaoh today. She did have to practice, but that wasn't until later so she figured she'd spend the day doing a little spying.

She walked around for a little while and discovered a part of the palace she hadn't been to before, so she looked around and when she saw no one she entered the corridor. She quickly realized that the hall was very small and didn't seem to have been occupied for quite some time. She didn't get very far before she heard the voice of Seto coming from further down the hallway and getting closer.

Looking around quickly, there was nothing to hide behind in this small hall so she sprinted for the sunlight, remaining as quiet as possible. She made it out and hid just in time as Seto emerged from the hallway, looking around to make sure no one had seen him leave.

'_It's too dangerous to go down there now, I'll have to wait until later… but I can definitely keep a close eye to see who comes in and out,'_ she thought.

She decided to see if there was a back entrance to wherever this hall led to, and spent most of the day searching for a hall she hadn't quite noticed before. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find any other entrances, leaving that one hallway as the only in and out of whatever was down there. She figured, it must be the prison since prisons are only most effective with only one entrance and exit. Yet, why would they have it so close to the main palace? Isn't that a little close for comfort for the Pharaoh?

She tried to think of other things it could be, that would make more sense to be off the palace, but came up with nothing. She knew it wouldn't be the shrine for the gods, since the shrine was on the other wing of the palace. She thought it could be training grounds for the calvary since she had no idea where that was, but if that was the case it wouldn't make sense that Seto was down there. Even her original idea of a prison or dungeon didn't make sense when she thought about what reason Seto would have to go down there.

'_I'll just have to wait until I have the opportunity to go down there,'_ she thought unhappily.

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**Review? Please? Or give me some cookies? :) **

**Next Chapter: Bakura's second visit with the Pharaoh. :)  
**


	11. Day 13: Exploring

**So sorry for the late new chapter, but this will probably be the last one for a couple weeks, Finals are coming up and my college education is very much important to me! I hope you enjoy it!  
**

* * *

Ati was still walking around when she heard a loud crash and looked to see smoke coming out of a shrine of wedju. "'kura," she whispered under her breath and ran off to get a better look, along with most of the guard and residents of the palace. She looked up just in time to see him running across the top of the pillars that led to outside the palace, the Millennium Ring dangling from his neck.

She had to hold back a smile at seeing him so successful, and looked up to see the Pharaoh standing on his balcony watching, before running down quickly.

She watched Bakura hop on a horse and take off, with the Pharaoh following close behind. Diabound shadowing Bakura. The Pharaoh raised his arm to the air and summoned a God. She watched as a monstrous red dragon appeared to shadow the Pharaoh. She prayed momentarily that Bakura would show the Pharaoh up, and wanted to run and watch but knew she would get caught. However, once she saw the two monsters fighting in the sky, she was content with watching from afar.

She watched the Pharaoh's dragon put up one hell of a fight, but sure enough, she watched it fall. She was cheering in her heart that her love had taken the Pharaoh's throne, but knew she would have to wait until the council returned to hear anything.

-…-…-…-

Bakura grinned as he rode away on his horse with his new prize, the Millennium Puzzle, in his hands. He couldn't have been happier at the accomplishment and would write Ati once he returned to Kul'Elna.

As soon as he tied up his horse and held up the Millennium Puzzle his other thieves cheered. He walked straight to his home and pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote Ati a letter.

_Ati, my Queen,_

_I'm sure you'll know by the time you receive this letter, but I have conquered the Pharaoh tonight. I have the puzzle in hand, and the Pharaoh is dead. He fell from a cliff, so I'm sure there's no way he could have survived. _

_Also, there is another on our side as of tonight. The Millennium Ring allows me to put a piece of my soul into another object, and I placed some of my will in Ahknaden's eye. _

_We'll celebrate a little, but you'll see me soon, when I'm ready to take the rest of their Millennium Items. _

_Goodnight my love,_

'_kura._

He sent the letter off to her and took the items down to the shrine where all the spirits of Kul'Elna lurked and placed the items on the tablet where they belonged.

-…-…-…-

She saw the hawk land on her bed and ran over quickly and took the parchment from its ankle and read his note.

Grinning she was happy to know that the man she hated so much was finally dead. Yet everyone around the palace was convinced that he was still alive somewhere. No one could have survived falling off a cliff, not even the Pharaoh. Reincarnation of the gods or not, he still had the body of humans, and could die like one.

She wrote him back, asking how much longer it would be until she could return home with him now that the Pharaoh was dead, and sent the letter before crawling into bed for a very enjoyable sleep.

When she woke everyone was searching for the pharaoh, trying to find where he was, alive or dead. She pretended to mourn as she wandered around the palace, since there was obviously no one to entertain while everyone was on red alert. She decided now would be a good time to check down that hallway since everyone was highly distracted.

She watched the place for a little to see if anyone entered or left, but no one did, so she made her descent into the darkness. She made it through the narrow hall quickly and found that it opened into larger room, with a guard table that was vacant. Probably because everyone was searching for the king. She explored a little, and found this place to be a small prison, that was much too close to the palace for comfort. She looked in the cells, and all were empty, except in one, the pillow still had indentions from where someone had been laying recently.

She wondered momentarily, why they only housed on person here, and continued on her exploration.

She came upon a corridor at the end of the cells, so naturally she followed it until she heard voices. Quickly finding a place to hide behind a few crates, she listened to the voices and easily discerned one as Seto and another as Ahknaden. They were saying something about training kas, and something about rivaling the power of Diabound. _'As if that could ever happen, Diabound was easily able to wipe the floor with that silly man who called himself Pharaoh,'_ she smiled and kept listening, until she heard their footsteps fade into a different room.

After waiting to make sure it was safe, she snuck into the room behind the two men. What she found made her rub her eyes and blink furiously in disbelief. A torture chamber of sorts, but instead of devices the prisoners were suspended on platforms over an abyss that seemed to never end. Two individuals had their kas summoned and were fighting to kill the other.

She saw a blue haired woman between Seto and Ahknaden and listened to them speak about how to strengthen ka. She heard something about a blue dragon, but was more preoccupied by watching their actions than the words they were saying.

They put the poor girl onto one of the platforms, and both of the other men snarled with joy, excited for new pray, since fighting each other was apparently very tiring. They turned both their kas on the woman who stood defenseless. She looked at the two priests, Seto watching anxiously and Ahknaden watching very intensely, measuring every movement on the small woman.

She only stuck around until the thunderous boom of the monster being summoned shook the dungeon. Since it was a delicate situation, she figured it might be a good idea to leave while people were distracted by trying to pull seto and the girl out of the pit.

She made it back out, just barely without being caught, and was grateful to make it back to her room with only a small interruption from a crying and miserable Mana. She tried to cheer the girl up but found her efforts wasted.

That night she didn't hesitate to write Bakura with her discovery.


	12. End of Week 2: Welcome

**Sorry you had to wait so long! I'm finally out of college for the summer, and by Summer, I mean I'm free until Summer II, so I will be scarce again in July, but hopefully I can get this done by then so you're not left with cliffies :D**

**Hope you enjoy it! I just wrote it this morning :)**

**WARNING: Theres is mildly explicit stuff later in the chapter ;)**

* * *

Bakura watched the hawk fly over him while he was in the training grounds with the others. He left the lieutenants in charge of training and ran to his house. The hawk stood there impatiently, eyes glowing in the darkness.

He took the note and read it aloud:

"_Oh 'kura! We may have a problem. _

_Priest Seto has been talking about finding a way that could beat diabound, and even that evil man's 'Gods' and in my… quest for knowledge… I snuck down this corridor after him and priest Ahknaden, and found something horrible. They're pitting prisoners against one another to strengthen their ka. And whoever looses falls to their death._

_Sounds more like something you would do if you don't mind my saying so, but that's not the bad part. _

_There was this girl. She looked more pathetic than I do, but the second she passed out from fear, this giant blue/silver dragon erupted from her. Like her ba and ka are tied together. And this monster was the most powerful beast I'd ever seen. I don't know how it would pit against your Diabound, but you should definitely be cautious._

_If anything else happens I'll let you know._

_Also… get me the hell out of here!_

_-Ati"_

He grinned, and tried to remember the last time he'd seen her. It had been so long already, and the last memory he left her with was of him beating her up for the pharaoh.

Sighing, he wrote a letter back thanking her for her insight and that he'd so his best to get her back quickly.

He laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking until he fell asleep.

He woke to the feeling of breathing on his neck, startled he looked around and saw Ati, drooling on a pillow, laying right beside him. He smiled, glad that she'd stayed the whole night with him and rolled over, towards her, and ran his fingers through her long black hair. She hadn't cut it since she'd joined them, and it had grown a little too long. He figured that if they kept letting it grow it might reach the floor.

Her eyes snapped open at the feeling of her hair being pulled, but relaxed when she realized it was Bakura. "You just scared the living shit out of me," she groaned.

He smiled; the most genuine that he could manage, hoping she would catch on that he was happy. He realized it worked when she smiled back at him. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off, "Let me guess, I need to get my ass out of bed because we have to go do some heist or something, or scout, or train, or tend our horses, or something that's gonna make me move from this spot."

He laughed and shook his head, "Today's a free day, we can afford a day of relaxing every now and then you know."

She grinned and pulled his face to hers, kissing him deeply, leaving him completely shocked, "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He blinked, her hands were still cupping his face, her lips still only inches away.

"Sorry," she withdrew instantly.

He blinked again, now confused as to what the hell she was thinking, "Uhm. Ati, I didn't even say anything."

"Its your body language, I think I scared you…" she bit her lip.

"Yea, you did, but it wasn't bad," he grinned a slightly sadistic grin and pulled her close, and kissed her back.

She smiled behind the kiss and kept kissing him, even when she felt his hands pulling off her robes. Instead, she just pulled his robes off too. Once they were exposed, he pulled his lips away from hers and sat up over her, while she lay pinned below his torso.

"Really? You used to get another good look at me? You already saw me at the oasis."

He smiled and nodded, "Doesn't mean I can't enjoy it now that you're mine."

She blinked, "Yours?"

His chocolate eyes froze over with a thin layer of ice, "Yes…"

"As in… just yours?"

"Yes."

She smiled and the care in those vibrant green orbs melted the ice that filled his chocolate, and he pounced. Kissing all over her body he was smiling, listening to every sound she made, every moan, every groan, every 'oh'.

His mouth came down heavily on each of her nipples, licking, caressing, and sometimes biting. He felt her arch her back against him, practically asking for more. When his mouth was occupied with one nipple, he sent his hand to service the other, pinching, pulling, and driving her crazy.

Slowly he lowered himself, pressing kisses down her stomach until he got just below her belly button. He looked up at her, a devilish grin in his eyes, and she blinked, afraid and somewhat confused.

"'Kura… I'm," she started to say, until she felt his fingers caressing her outer lips.

"Yes my pet?" he smiled, seeing the intoxication filling her eyes.

"I'm scared," she bit her lip, hoping it wouldn't make him stop.

He grinned, "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you." Once she nodded he muttered, "much."

Luckily though, she didn't hear it as she was too busy being consumed by her own lust as one of his fingers found their way inside her opening. She bucked her hips upward to anxiously welcome him.

He slowly slid his finger in and out, watching her go crazy. "I think you want to. Don't you?"

She shook her head, her words coming out in short breaths timed evenly with her hips, "I've … never… I'm… scared."

He withdrew his finger instantly, "Alright then."

She stared at him as he came back up to her, and licked his finger clean of her juice. "You're mad at me…"

He shook his head, "Not mad, impatient. In due time you won't be able to resist, no matter how scared you are."

She whimpered, trying to let the feeling pass as she still laid there, naked before him.

He grabbed her robe and threw it over her, "You're welcome to do whatever you'd like today."

She smiled and nodded, "Can I go to the oasis and clean my hair?"

He nodded, "You know the rule."

She nodded, "You go too. I know, I know."

"When?" he blinked, seeing her close her eyes again.

"Later, I want more sleep," she pulled her robes back on and rolled over, away from him, falling back asleep quickly.

He smiled, he was so close. He closed his eyes again and dozed off.

Early in the morning he woke up to scratching talons on his arms, "what you vile bird!"

The bird held out its leg and shook it for him, a letter from Ati was tied there.

He opened it and read it.

'_kura, I thought you said you finished the job! I cannot believe you! They come back in all prancing and shit this morning about how they found the Pharaoh: ALIVE! You got my hopes up! _

_You know what this means? This means I'm stuck here! STUCK. HERE. _

_Pleaseeeeee, I beg you, do something. You only have the two millennium items. Even with Ahknaden on your side, that's then what two and a half? Also, while Ahknaden was incredibly pissed that the Pharaoh was still alive, him and all the rest of the priests, and Pharaoh himself are planning on invading Kul Elna this afternoon._

_Be prepared._

_-Ati._

_P.S. Attached is a full description of what each of the remaining items can do, I hope you find it useful dear. _

He read through the second piece of parchment, and was glad to see that her work was well researched. He went outside and warned his men, "Let's give them a warm welcome shall we? Pharaoh is still highly injured, and without his item he should be the easiest to destroy. But do watch out."

They nodded.

"Also, the old one, with the Millennium Eye, do not _kill_ him. He is a spy for us, however, you may hurt him as much as you like," Bakura grinned. "I will be in the shrine, Lieutenants, make sure everyone does their part."

His lieutenants saluted him and set everyone in their own posts.

"Now, to release the ghosts," Bakura grinned as he descended the stairs down to the shrine. Once at the shrine he released the spirits that had all been trapped in Kul Elna when the items were made. "This is your day of vengeance ladies and gents. The Pharaoh is coming to meet us, let's make sure he gets a warm welcome!"

-…-…-…-

The lieutenants watched as the Pharaoh and his men entered the city that was now swarming with the ghosts that Bakura had released. He signaled to a few who were hiding in a building to snatch some guards, and watched as slowly the Pharaoh's guard shrunk.

"My Lords, A few buildings ahead, we've found a trap door that leads underground, several soldiers have gone to check it out," a guard stated to the Pharaoh and a priest.

The Pharaoh nodded and looked a little shocked, but approached the area nonetheless.

-…-…-…-

Bakura grinned, seeing a handful of guards walking into the shrine, and sent his ghosts to devour their souls. He knew better than anything that the screaming would bring the Pharaoh down into his lair. He heard a guard scream a warning to the Pharaoh right before he died.

"_Yes, he is here," _Bakura grinned. "Come on in Pharaoh! This is the temple of the dead," He yelled to the man outside. He waited til the Pharaoh was infront of him "Look who's back from the brink of death."

"Bakura," the Pharaoh hissed.

* * *

**So Review? Yes, Please? Review? :) **

**Only a few more books to get through before this is finished. **

**But here's a question. when it comes to the final fight, should I keep to the book, or give us a drastic ending? Cuz I can guarantee you Bakura is NOT going to evaporate into sand. There's no way in Hell it's gonna end like that. **

**I love your opinions, remember that :)**


	13. Day 15: Trust Issues

**New Chapter: Yay :) Its winding down now, I think so anyway. **

* * *

The sun shined brightly in this desecrated town, and Bakura found himself smiling.

Looking to his side he saw the only woman who'd ever cared about him lying in his bed, sleeping soundly. He smiled as he saw her long hair covering more than half her body, waves of blackness falling around her body. As much as he loved the darkness in his heart, he loved seeing that darkness in her hair. Yet, even with all that darkness in his heart, she still loved him as a human.

She rolled over and he watched as her eyes opened slowly. Soft green eyes fell upon him and she yawned. "Can we go get clean now?" She smiled.

He nodded, "grab some clothes, I'll get the horse ready."

She smiled and sat up, rubbing her eyes as she wasn't used to the sunlight. Bakura took the opportunity to sneak in a kiss before he left to get the horse ready.

Reminiscing over the kiss she felt so happy to have received, she grabbed a change of clothes and ran out to the horses, where Bakura was already waiting impatiently. "You coming today or tomorrow?"

She threw the clothes in the sidebag, and climbed on behind him. "Today."

"Do you need us to do anything while we're gone sir?" his first lieutenant looked at the two.

He shook his head, "if you'd like you can train, but other than that there's nothing."

The lieutenant nodded as the two rode off.

Ati grinned, holding tightly to the thief, happy to be accepted by him. She never thought that he'd even attempt to allow someone in his heart. While he still wasn't as open with her as she hoped, she realized he'd already come leaps and bounds from where he was when she met him.

She kept thinking to herself until they arrived and they got off the horse. Bakura stared at her strangely, since it was uncharacteristic of her to be so quiet, but he figured she wanted some time to think. He knew he wasn't fond of people intruding on his thoughts and decided he would give her the same respect he'd want. He tied up the horses and hung up the towels, while she went straight into the water.

He figured she was too busy thinking to care about him undressing, so he just stripped and left his clothes in the side bag before walking into the water. However, when he got in the water he saw her smiling happily at him. "May I help you?" he blinked.

She shook her head and smiled, "No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

He shrugged and looked away, not sure if he should bring up her being spaced out.

"Sorry if I'm a little spaced out… I'm thinking about a lot right now," she smiled, hoping she wouldn't see the warmth in his eyes fade.

"Ugh," he groaned, "women and their emotions. Did you ever consider that you think too much?"

She laughed, seeing his attempt at a joke, "No. Never. Did you ever consider that you don't think enough?"

He blinked, before realization hit him and he turned bright red, "Asshole."

"You asked for it," she smiled and paused for a moment before saying, "I'm really happy."

He blinked again, now confused as all hell. "What're you talking about?"

"I'm happy," she smiled. "Honestly, I know that you're tough and you're a great leader for your men, but seeing you relaxing more makes me happy."

"But what about you?" He couldn't figure out how she was happy because he wasn't stressed. Those are two unrelated things.

"What about me?"

"How can you be happy because I'm relaxed? It must be something more complicated than that… Like you're happy that you've had an impression on me, or you're happy I said ok and didn't take advantage of you…"

She shook her head, "While yes, I am happy about both of those things, even if you would have said no, as long as you got to relax, I'd still be happy. I told you already, I never expected you to like me back. I guess the concept of selflessness isn't in your dictionary."

"Are you calling me stupid?" His brows furrowed with unhappiness and she bit her lip.

"No, I'm just saying that with what all you've been through, it's not surprising. No one's actually put your wellbeing ahead of their own right?" she backed up from him slowly, seeing his anger growing.

"Yea, and I don't expect that to change…" he was practically growling.

"Exactly. I'm not calling you stupid, or anything, I'm just saying I should have realized that you wouldn't expect something like this. It was my bad," there was a clear vibrato in her words, and he picked up on it.

"If you're so selfless then why are you afraid of me right now? Miss 'I love bakura'. I shoulda guessed, you're just lying aren't you? Trying to take my men from me!"

She blinked, trying to figure out how he reached that conclusion, "I'm afraid of you right now because you look like you're going to hurt me."

"Who's to say that I wont?"

"'kura please! Tell me what's going on? I haven't done anything!"

"You were probably thinking about it earlier, how to best bring me down, steal my men… I'm onto you."

She rolled her eyes, "Is that what you think? Do you want to _know_ what I was thinking of earlier? Well! DO YOU!"

He growled at her, which she figured was her signal to speak.

"I was thinking about how _lucky_ I was to actually have been accepted by you, especially since I never thought it would ever happen. But it's good to see your true feelings are in the light. You don't trust me. Not just me, you don't trust anyone. I'm mature enough to see when I'm not wanted," she got up out of the water and grabbed a towel.

"How can I be sure that you're not lying to me huh?" he was still growling.

She spun around, black hair whipping in the air, "I don't know. Its called trust 'kura. You either believe that I'm telling the truth or not. I haven't lied to you since I got here, so I don't know where this doubt is coming from, but I don't have to stick around and listen to it."

He stormed out of the pool and grabbed her by the wrist as she was about to walk off into the desert, "Don't."

"Leave me alone. I'm not talking to you until you talk sense into yourself. I'm not gonna be used as some punching bag when you're unhappy," she growled, yanking for her arm back but he wouldn't relinquish.

He dragged her back to the waters edge, "Take of your clean robes."

Groaning she yanked them back off and got back in the water with him.

Once in the water, he pulled her close to him, bare skin to bare skin, he rested his forehead on her shoulder. She was still trying to break free until she felt him release her and wrap his arms around her body. Then she stood still, blinking and confused as hell, "'kura what's going on?"

"You knew you were gonna have to work with me on this. I know you knew that," he was whispering, still angry, but not as much.

"It's kinda hard to work with someone who won't even give you a chance," her words were cold and flat.

"I know. You know that I haven't trusted anyone since that day," the memory of watching his parents die brought tears to his eyes.

"I know," she nodded, still cold, distant.

She felt a tear fall from his cheek to her shoulder, and instantly regretted her impatience. "'kura…"

He shook his head in the crook of her neck, "I'm… _sorry_ Ati. I'll try harder… but you can't expect me to change overnight."

She nodded, "If I could understand where all this came from, that would make it a lot easier to try to adapt. I don't know what I did wrong that made you freak out…"

"You said you were happy, with complete disregard to your own actual feelings…"

She blinked, "It's true. I mean, yes I've had a horrible thing happen to me in my life, but I can't give up being happy for others." She lifted his head from her shoulder, holding his face in front of hers so he wouldn't miss anything, "Seeing the people that I care about, be happy, is what makes me truly happy in this world."

He binked, "And if I still don't believe you?"

She rolled her eyes and kissed the stupid thief on the lips, and kept kissing him until he kissed back.

"Believe me now?"

He shook his head but kissed her back.

Ati's eyes opened and she yawned happily, although that wasn't the best dream she'd had since living in the palace, she was glad to remember that things had changed since that time. She realized quickly that everyone was running around frantically because the pharaoh had left with the priests to kul elna.

Ati knew this was the end, and threw on a set of pale orange dancing clothes, that would blend in perfectly with the sand of the desert. She ran for the stables, to see that even mana had left, and grabbed the best horse she could before mounting it and taking off for kul elna. If she could reach there, not only could she see the end, but she wouldn't have to wait for Bakura to get her out of this hell any longer.

She set off, knowing she wouldn't reach there for hours, or that it might take her all day.

-…-…-…-

The pharaoh fell to one knee, grabbing his arm. His latest monster had just fallen.

Bakura laughed, his diabound hadn't even been scratched by anything the Pharaoh threw at him. "Ready to surrender?"

The noble man shook his head, "I'll never surrender to you."

Bakura shrugged, "It's your loss." He sent his Diabound straight for the Pharaoh himself, only to receive a counter attack from one of the silly priests.' "Face it, you can't keep this up much longer!"

Bakura stood at the tablet and fought the six of them proudly, watching as they all fell slowly, until his win was inevitable. He started laughing hysterically, "Give it up pharaoh."

The pharaoh tried to stand but was too weak, Karim was on the verge of death, and was cradled by Isis. He kept his eyes focused on Bakura until he heard a loud thump. The Pharaoh turned around and saw Ahknaden who had just knocked out Karim and Isis and was about to knock out Shadah.

"Ahknaden," the Pharaoh was stuttering, "what're you doing?"

"Something I should have done years ago," he grinned and took the items from the unconscious guardians and offered them to the spirits to put at the tablet. That along with the items he'd taken from everyone else during the battle only left ahknaden's eye.

"Your eye," Bakura outstretched his hand, waiting.

"Yes master Bakura," he grinned cynically and put his hand up to his eye before ripping out the millennium item and throwing it to Bakura.

"The world is mine now Pharaoh," he laughed eccentrically. "You don't stand a chance."

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**Review? Yes, no, maybe so? Newho, I hope you liked it. Its comin to an end. Who will win, Pharaoh or Bakura? Place your bets :))**


	14. Day 16: Camoflauge

**Thanks for reading all the way through this! I'm sorry this chapter is short and not as in-depth as you may have liked. I can't find my book at the moment and I didn't really wanna fudge it all and get it wrong... **

**I hope you enjoy the last chapter of this story!  
**

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The Pharaoh watched helplessly as Bakura placed the last item in stone tablet. Darkness erupted from the tablet as it sunk into the earth and released the great evil.

Bakura laughed happily as he watched the evil lord Zorc rise from the depths of hell. He realized it might be best if he didn't say anything and he watched as the pharaoh and Zorc took things outside.

He followed behind and saw how Zorc controlled the darkness, and watched the sky fall black with a shroud of his evil. He called back his lieutenants and thieves to sit and watch the show.

The pharaoh stood, having summoned a god trying to stand his own against the evil lord.

Bakura was more than happy with himself for accomplishing this, he could sit and enjoy watching the pharaoh suffer to death now.

Looking around at the war scene his eyes caught a glimpse of moving sand. "Wait," he blinked and squinted at the moving thing. "Ati!"

The lieutenants looked off in the distance and saw her riding a horse around the battle. "Uhm. Sir should we go get her?"

Bakura bit his lip. "I'd say yes, but if they spot you then we're in trouble. She picked that color for a reason. She'll be fine… I'm sure of it."

"She might die."

"She was prepared to take that risk when she went to the palace in the beginning. She told me not to compromise us on her behalf… we'll wait here," he nodded to himself and went back to watching Zorc fight that silly Pharaoh. Unfortunately they were completely oblivious to the fact that a priest had stolen back the millennium puzzle for the Pharaoh.

Slowly watching his country deteriorate, he tried to figure out how to banish this great evil since his god wasn't helping much.

-…-…-…-

Ati rode on, as far as she could manage from the scene.

'_That evil man is getting what he deserves. Oh how I wish I could stop and watch his fate. If only… oh well. I'll just wait until I get home to Kul Elna to see if 'kura is alright,'_ she kicked the horse to get him to run faster, "please be okay."

She clutched to the horse tighter as it sped up and was happy when she could finally see the building outlines of Kul Elna.

-…-…-…-

"This world is mine," Zorc laughed preparing his last blow in his hands while the Pharaoh tried to hold himself together.

"If I can't defeat you then I'll take you with me," Pharaoh stated, making Zorc laugh.

He held the puzzle in his hand, and watched as it started glowing, which attracted Zorc's attention. "By the power of the Egyptian Gods," he started talking, completely ignoring that Zorc was launching his attack until the orb of darkness hit the bright glow radiating from the puzzle, and turned into a vortex aimed straight at the evil god.

Zorc fought against the pull from the vortex but could only hold on so long before he was sucked inside, but made sure to pull that Pharaoh in with him.

A huge flash of white light, accompanied by the sound of a large bomb swallowed the surrounding land.

Bakura's eyes instantly flew over to Ati who was trying to outrun it. He saw the light gaining on her and hoped she would survive.

He saw the light coming closer, "Oh hell, we should move."

His thieves took off on horses, but instead he waited, and asked the ghosts of Kul Elna to shield him from this blast. Right as they covered the village, Ati made it into the village and rode over to Bakura.

"'Kura we have to get out of here, that light will wipe us out," she didn't know why he wasn't moving.

"The spirits will protect us," he smiled and yanked her off her horse, "well done my queen. You've successfully helped destroy an awful ruler."

She smiled as they walked into their home as the light stretched over the village of Kul Elna, feeding on the spirits of those who were used to create the millennium items. They went and laid in their bed, arms wrapped tightly around each other.

"So, how should we start our new kingdom?"

She laughed, "I don't know my king, and particularly, I don't care as long as I'm by your side this time."

He smiled, pressing a kiss to her lips, "I'd like that."

As she smiled back they heard another boom. "I guess the explosions over," She smiled and closed her eyes to kiss him once more.

Quicker than either of them could notice, the room was surrounded in a blinding white light, hotter than any day they'd ever had together. The heat seared the flesh from their bones instantly, leaving only two skeletons holding each other with the love they had as they died.

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**I hope you liked it :) **

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